By Keith Idec

CARSON, California – Vanes Martirosyan had a sense of humor about being brutally knocked out by Gennady Golovkin late Saturday night.

Martirosyan made the extremely costly mistake of trying to slug it out with one of boxing’s most pulverizing punchers. Playing that dangerous game led to Golovkin unloading a crushing combination of power punches that left a decimated Martirosyan on the canvas, unable to continue in just the second round of a scheduled 12-round, 160-pound title fight at StubHub Center.

When asked afterward what advice he would give to any of Golovkin’s future opponents, Martirosyan took a shot at Canelo Alvarez, the suspended superstar he replaced on short notice Saturday night.

“Canelo has a lot to prove,” Martirosyan said. “I see why he’s eating that kind of meat, because he wanted to get the extra edge. You know, the man is the real deal. I mean, he’s 36 years old and he’s still fighting like that. You know, he is the real deal. I mean, I’ve faced a lot of fighters in the gym. I’ve actually sparred with heavyweights, cruiserweights. Every single power [punch] he landed, every single shot was the same power. And that kind of got me.

“My coach had a different game plan. He wanted me to box more and move to the right, move to the right. But just the fighter in me, I just wanted to see what the guy had, you know? I went inside to brawl with the guy and, you know, he got me good. Good for him.”

Martirosyan made a reference, of course, to Alvarez’s excuse for twice testing positive for a banned substance in February. Alvarez claims contaminated meat consumed in Mexico was the source of clenbuterol turning up in his system.

Those positives tests eventually led to Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) getting suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and withdrawing from his high-profile, pay-per-view rematch against Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs). Alvarez and Golovkin were scheduled to fight again Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 32-year-old Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs), a longtime junior middleweight contender who hadn’t fought in nearly two years, agreed to replace Alvarez on just 2½ weeks’ notice. The Glendale, California, native had not been knocked out in 13 years as a pro prior to Saturday night.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.