Vanes Martirosyan: “If Al Haymon wants to accept me back, I would go to him immediately”

Junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan has been speaking out of late when it comes to the subject of his treatment from promoter Don King. Vanes first spoke out on twitter and has kicked off an interesting discussion about the business side of boxing and what goes on behind the scenes. Besides being a fan favorite, Vanes was usually the odds on favorite with the betting sites when it came to his biggest match ups.

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Vanes Martirosyan, I talked to him about his promoter situation and get his views on his future going forward. Vanes also speaks on his past comments he made about Al Haymon and if he would be open to reuniting. Additionally, Martirosyan shares his thoughts on the fighters he likes to watch and speaks on when he will be ready to return to the ring. Here is what Vanes Martirosyan had to say. 

Jenna J: What is your ultimate goal right now? Do you want to be released from your contract with Don King so you can get fights?

Vanes Martirosyan: One hundred percent, I want to be in the ring. I’m hungry to be in the ring, I want my father to see me as a champion and see me performing. I don’t want my dad to see me like this not fighting because our whole dream to become champion and reach as top level as we can.

If I know in my heart that I’m not good enough, I would literally retire today, but the fans need to know that my losses never came from me being in shape, I was never in shape for those fights. I did favors for people and I feel that if I do favors, they need to do something for me too, at least take care of me so I can shut up and not talk about this like this. I did a favor for them and I stayed quiet for all of these years and it’s just boiling up and I exploded.

Jenna J: Do you have any regrets about anything you said?

Vanes Martirosyan: The one thing I regret in my career is badmouthing Al Haymon because I have nothing bad to say about him, I was just upset with the people in the company that were not treating me right and I took it out on him.

That was a mistake I made and if want him to know that I’m thankful for him. I’m not saying that for him to take me back, I just want him to know that I’m thankful for him. I sat back and I thought about my career and my whole life and how things went and he’s one person I shouldn’t have bad mouthed him and I’m sorry for that.

Jenna J: Being the fact that Jarrett Hurd and Tony Harrison are both with Al Haymon, is there a situation where you would go back to Al Haymon if the offer was right?

Vanes Martirosyan: I don’t need an offer from Haymon. If Haymon wants to accept me back, I would go to him immediately and I would want him in my boxing life. At the end of the day, he takes care of his fighters. He took care of me also.

His fighters make good money and a lot of people hate on the amount the fighters makes because it’s a lot of money, but they don’t know what we go through outside of boxing. The punishment we take in our brains, we are getting brain damage and I think we need to be paid for that instead of the people outside who are running the show getting more money than the fighters.

That’s the thing I like about Al Haymon, that he really does care about his fighters. If he’s willing to do something, I’m ready to go.

Jenna J: As a fan, are there any fights you want to see made in boxing?

Vanes Martirosyan: I would love to see Crawford fight the winner of Errol Spence vs. Mikey Garcia, that would be a good fight to watch. There’s a lot of good fights but right now my mind is heated from all of this stuff. The one fighter that I love and respect in boxing is Crawford, that guy is a beast. And Lomachenko too, that’s the guy right there. Those guys are on another level.

Jenna J: A lot of people have wanted to see Crawford fight Manny Pacquiao. What do you think of that fight if it were made?

Vanes Martirosyan: I think it’s a good fight, Pacquiao throws a lot of punches but Crawford is the real deal right now. I heard Marcos Maidana is coming back and that would be a good fight for Manny. I think Crawford would be a big risk for Manny. It’s a good fight, but I think it’s a good fight for Crawford.

Jenna J: Back to you, in terms of training, where are you at? How ready are you to take a fight if an opportunity were to come up right now?

Vanes Martirosyan: Right now I’m not ready. Mentally and physically I’m not ready. I’ve been out of the ring for months, just trying to figure things out. I need at least ten to twelve weeks to get back in good shape for me to be at my best.

But you know how boxing his, they throw a couple of bucks at you and you’ll be like, “Oh I’m in the best shape of my life.” Money always talks but I don’t want to take any fights where I’m not going to be one hundred percent ready because all of this talking that I’m doing, I want people to see my best when I show up. There’s a reason why they call me “Nightmare”, Andre Berto, Timothy Bradley, Austin Trout, I beat all of those guys and I got the name by beating guys like that.