Martirosyan dominates in victory at Hard Rock

In his quest to move forward on the path toward a world-title shot this year, Vanes Martirosyan wanted to make sure he didn’t take any steps backward in his first fight in 2010.

The reigning NABF and NABO super welterweight champion showed no signs of slippage Saturday, dominating Kassim Ouma and earning a 10-round unanimous decision in the main event of Top Rank’s fight card at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Martirosyan (27-0) displayed his newfound patience in the ring, not allowing himself to get flustered and using his lethal left hand to dominate Ouma (26-7-1).

Dave Moretti and C.J. Ross both scored the fight 97-93 and Dick Houck had it 97-92, all for Martirosyan.

“I made the fight tougher on myself than I should have,” Martirosyan said. “It was hard to be patient. He is very awkward. But I thought I dominated the fight.”

Martirosyan was in command most of the way, using his reach effectively and scoring with left hooks.

His lone bit of carelessness came in the ninth round when, after landing a nice uppercut, Martirosyan was off balance and Ouma hit him hard enough to drop him to the canvas.

Martirosyan got right back up and was not hurt. And he nearly finished Ouma late in the round. He dominated the final round and finished strong.

“That wasn’t really a knockdown,” he said. “I had lost my balance after I hit him. But I was having trouble seeing out of my left eye after he head-butted me early in the fight. I had to overcome some adversity.”

Freddie Roach, who trains Martirosyan, said it was good for his fighter to have to reach down and work.

“It’s a great lesson for Vanes,” Roach said. “He got away from the game plan, and when he stayed in the pocket instead of moving side to side, he got hit.

“But nobody’s perfect. He faced a veteran southpaw who gave him some trouble, but he clearly won the fight and we’ll learn from this and move on.”

In the co-main event, Las Vegas’ Diego Magdaleno was pushed to the limit by Gerardo Robles in their eight-round super featherweight bout before winning a unanimous decision.

Magdaleno (13-0) made it to the Fox Sports Net telecast when Miguel “Mikey” Garcia’s fight fell through Friday because of his opponent’s visa problems.

“Not every fight’s going to be a clean fight,” said Magdaleno, who was ahead 80-72, 78-74, 78-74 on the scorecards. “There was a lot of holding, some head-butts. I had to work hard in there.”

Magdaleno took some good shots from Robles (9-9) during the fight. But he rocked Robles with a big left in the sixth and had him in trouble midway through the round.

“He was a little awkward, and it took me some time to figure him out,” Magdaleno said. “But I stayed calm, and I began to land my combinations and got my timing down. It’s a good win.”

Super lightweight Jose Benavidez had a sensational pro debut, needing 1:21 to beat Steven Cox by technical knockout. Benavidez, 17, who was signed by Top Rank last week, knocked Cox down 35 seconds into the fight and was pummeling him when referee Russell Mora stopped it.