“I feel very good, I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in training for a fight,” said Martirosyan, who is ranked second by the North Atlantic Boxing Federation, eighth by the United States Boxing Association and 27th by the World Boxing Council in the 154-pound division. “I just can’t wait until Saturday.”
In his two previous 10-round fights prior to knocking out Howe, Martirosyan went the distance with Michael Medina on Sept. 19 and Angel Hernandez on June 26.
He said the change of pace in dispatching Howe in less than two minutes hasn’t disrupted his training rhythm, rather, it’s given him more time to prepare for this fight.
“The fight is the fun part,” Martirosyan said. “The gym is the hard part. The guys that I spar with at the gym are harder for me than the fight, actually.”
Lyell (18-6, 3 KOs), who fights out of Youngstown, Ohio, has won his last two fights, both eight-round affairs, via unanimous decision and went 3-1 in 2008 with a fifth-round TKO loss to David Lopez on Aug. 1.
He defeated Chris Archer on Nov. 28 to claim the North American Boxing Council Inter-Continental title, which will not be on the line on Saturday, as previously reported.
Martirosyan said he’s ready for whatever Lyell may throw at him.
“There really is no key [to beating Lyell],” he said. “When I come in in top shape and I do what I have to do, he shouldn’t be a problem.
“Ronnie [Shields] trains me in every kind of way so that when it comes to fight time, whatever way [my opponent] wants to fight, it’s not a problem for me.”
Martirosyan, a native of Abozyan, Armenia, has not fought in California since defeating Clarence Taylor via unanimous decision in six rounds at the Alameda Swap Meet on Jan. 1, 2008.
Taylor is the one common opponent for Martirosyan and Lyell. Lyell beat Taylor by decision in eight rounds on May 12, 2006.
