By Jake Donovan

For any fighter facing Vanes Martirosyan, chances are you will be the subject of scorn and degrade in the weeks, days and hours leading up to the fight. It takes an exceptional fighter and human being to avoid being the object of such disdain.

It says a lot about both fighters that Martirosyan and Jermell Charlo have nothing but respect for one another, given what’s at stake in their respective careers leading into their March 28 crossroads bout at The Palms in Las Vegas.

There is no belt at stake in their scheduled 10-round junior middleweight contest, which serves as the lead-in on a Showtime-televised doubleheader (Saturday, 10:00pm ET). It stands to reason that the loser of Saturday’s bout takes a bigger hit than whatever reward awaits the winner.

Still, both fighters are eager to face one another, if only to extend the competitive nature of their past sparring sessions together.

“We sparred together for three years,” notes Charlo, vividly recalling their time spent sharing camp with trainer Ronnie Shields while Martirosyan relocated to Houston.

Charlo (25-0, 11KOs) and his twin brother Jermall Charlo – who fights on the undercard – both still live and train in the area. Martirosyan gave it a good run before deciding to move back to California.

“I respect Jermell, and his style,” admits Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21KOs), who comes in having won two straight following a title fight points loss to Demetrius Andrade in Nov. ’13. “We were always in competition in training camp, whether running, sparring and what not.

“Ronnie Shelds and them, they were always good to me while I trained there. But once we get in the ring on Saturday, (Charlo) is my enemy.”

The feeling is mutual as far as his unbeaten opponent is concerned.

“I've never had anything personal to say about him. It's just work,” Charlo insists.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox