‘Nightmare’ nearing next level

GLENDALE — In order to reach the next plateau of his career — a title shot in the light middleweight division — Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan will have to face some bigger tests this year.

Saturday’s 10-round bout against Andrey Tsurkan at Top Rank Promotions’ Latin Fury 9, which will be televised live at 6 p.m. on pay-per-view from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., certainly qualifies as one of the toughest challenges, if not the greatest yet, the unbeaten Glendale resident has faced in a professional career that began in 2004.

Tsurkan is ranked 36th in the world in the light middleweight division by boxrec.com — Martirosyan is 34th — and, at 26-4 with 17 wins by knockout, is as experienced a fighter as Martirosyan has taken on. Only Angel Hernandez (28-6), whom Martirosyan bested in a 10-round unanimous decision on June 26, 2008, entered the ring with more wins than Tsurkan now has.

In addition, Tsurkan, 31, who hails from Lugansk, Ukraine, has long fought out of Bronx, New York, giving him a home field advantage, so to speak.

“I think of every fight as a championship fight that’s just as big as any other fight, but on paper this is the toughest opponent that I’m going to face, so it is the toughest fight of my career, so far,” Martirosyan (24-0, 15 KOs) said. “We’ll see Saturday if it is or not.”

Tsurkan, whose pro career began in 1999, has honed a reputation as a tough-as-nails old school fighter, who puts a lot of pressure on his opponents and keeps coming forward.

He’s regarded as a fearsome body puncher with knockout power in both hands, particularly his left hook.

“Perseverance, determination and hard work — those are the things that make him the fighter that he is,” said Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing, Tsurkan’s longtime promoter. “He’s just a rough, tough kid. ...You can hit him with a brick and he’ll still keep coming.”

At the very least, Tsurkan figures to provide Martirosyan a chance to more fully display the new altered style he has been perfecting along side Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach, with whom the 23-year old fighter reunited in February after a one-year hiatus.

Martirosyan has talked about employing a more mobile hit-and-move approach, emulating the explosive style of light welterweight star Manny Pacquiao, who is also trained by Roach. In his first fight back with Roach on May 16, Martirosyan knocked out Harrison Cuello at the 2:15 mark of the first round.