Lara holds on to title with decision over Martirosyan

1:10 AM ET

The first time Erislandy Lara and Vanes Martirosyan fought it was an unwatchable snoozer that ended in a technical draw.

They met in a rematch Saturday night, and it was another fan-unfriendly fight, but one that Lara won by unanimous decision to retain his junior middleweight world title at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Two judges scored the bout 116-111 and one had it 115-111 as Lara retained his 154-pound crown for the fourth time. ESPN.com also scored the fight 116-111 for Lara.

They first met in a November 2012 world title eliminator that featured virtually no action, was filled with fouls that left both men accusing the other of fighting dirty and ended in a technical draw. The end came when Martirosyan was deemed unable to continue after suffering a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt early in the ninth round.

Punch statsPunchesLaraMartirosyanLanded16294Thrown424474Percent38%20%– Courtesy of CompuBox

The rematch was nearly as action-free and also was filled with fouls.

“This is normal. This is boxing, not baseball,” Lara said through a translator. “Low blows happen and also head butts. I’m a very intelligent fighter and at no point did I feel this fight was going to be lost.”

In the second round there was an accidental head butt, which, given their history, came as no surprise. It was the first of several and raised swelling around Lara’s left eye.

Lara (23-2-2, 13 KOs), 33, a former star amateur in Cuba before defecting and settling in Houston, stood his ground instead of running like he often does and landed some solid combinations and crisp straight left hands. Martirosyan targeted Lara’s body and attacked it relentlessly, especially in the sixth round. Lara will feel those punches for the next …

continue reading in source espn.go.com