Martirosyan improves to 17-0

LOS ANGELES — With a quickly mounting toll of victories and an unblemished professional record, the future looks bright for Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan.

For the 21-year-old Glendale native, however, there’s no time to waste and no better time than the present to fight. Just over two weeks removed from his last fight — a first-round knockout of Dan Wallace at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas — Martirosyan (17-0, 12 knockouts) was back in action at the Alameda Swap Meet, where he defeated Clarence Taylor (12-13, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision following a six-round bout.

“Top Rank wants to keep me busy this year — this is my year,” Martirosyan said. “Whenever there’s an opportunity to put me on [a card] I’m always ready to go.”

All three judges scored the fight 60-54, scoring each round 10-9 in favor of Martirosyan.

Martirosyan used a mix of combinations to the head and hooks to the body to punish his opponent for the better part of the first five rounds.

Trailing but still game, Taylor opened the final round with a flurry of haymakers. The two squared off and traded blows, a departure from the earlier rounds when Martirosyan was the sole aggressor, but the exchange was brief.

“[Taylor] knew he was down — he was losing every round,” Martirosyan said. “He was trying to get a lucky shot [in the final round], but I’m too good for that.”

Easily able to avoid being knocked out, the only surprise of the night may have been Martirosyan’s inability to score his own knockout — or even a knockdown — despite wearing down Taylor from all angles over the first five rounds.

“A guy like Taylor with a good chin, you’ve gotta go to the body,” said Martirosyan’s trainer Ronnie Shields. “Once you wear him down on the body, the guy would have been easy pickings for him. These are the kind of guys you fight on the way up. You gotta learn how to deal with these guys, but the most important thing is that he won.”