Armenians plan revenge

7 September 2010

Following Ireland’s 1-0 victory over Armenia last Friday in their European Championship qualifier Armenian’s Roman Aramian and Arsen Martyrosian will be looking to restore national pride in Dublin this weekend as they bid for European title success in the boxing ring when they face Brian Magee and Kiko Martinez in a European title double header on this Saturday’s Hunky Dorys Fight Night at the National Stadium.

German-based Aramian challenges Belfast southpaw Brian Magee for his super-middleweight crown while Martyrosian, who fights out of France will contest the vacant super bantamweight title against Kiko Martinez.

Despite being a big underdog, Aramian is confident that he can pull off an upset. I am coming to Ireland to win and to become the European Champion, declared he said.

I’m sure if will be the same for Arsen. I watched the match last Friday and it was disappointing for us but the Irish team proved that they can win in Armenia so now it is up to myself and Arsen to prove that we can win in Ireland.

I am prepared for a war and I believe it will be an exciting fight for the fans. Two thirds of my 30 wins have come by knockout and I know that I have the power to score another knockout in Dublin.

Aramian watched Magee lift the European title in Denmark earlier this year with an impressive stoppage win over local man Mads Larsen but he is adamant that Magee will find things an awful lot tougher in his first defence.

I watched Magee win the title against Larsen and I was very disappointed with Larsen’s performance because mentally he seemed to give up as early as the third round, said Aramian. I think he looked at Magee’s record and he underestimated him expecting an easy victory and maybe Magee will make the same mistake against me but I can guarantee that I will not hide or run away like Larsen did.

I have a lot of respect for Brian because his European title success has been an inspiration to me. It shows that even after you have had setbacks it’s possible to come back and win at the highest level and that’s exactly what I plan to do on Saturday night.

A third title bout on the Hunky Dorys Fight Night will see Dubliner’s Anthony Fitzgerald and Robbie Long square off as they look to complete a trilogy that has already thrilled Irish fight fans with both men having a win a piece. This time around, Fitzgerald’s Irish super-middleweight title will be on the line.

The nine fight card also features undefeated Cork based Cuban’s Alexei Acosta and Luis Garcia with heavyweight Mike Perez having been forced off the card through illness. Reigning EU and Irish super bantamweight Champion Paul Hyland will also be in action as looks to press his claims for a shot at the winner of the Martinez Martirosyan fight while Hyland’s fellow Dubliner’s Gavin Prunty and Brendan Fitzpatrick will also be in action alongside reigning Irish Heavyweight champ, Coleman Barrett from Galway.

Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight Night priced E40, E75 and E100 are available from Ticketmaster.ie / 0818 719300 or the National Stadium on 087 2511772, the Ticket Office on 086 8120135 or the boxers on the bill.