ATHENS - Seven months ago, Vanes Martirosyan was America's 14th-ranked amateur welterweight - not a typical starting point for an Olympic boxer.
He has turned out to be a whole lot better than anybody expected. With a few more wins, the same might soon be said of the entire U.S. team.
Martirosyan battered Algeria's Benamar Meskine in a 45-20 victory in the preliminaries Sunday to earn a second-round match with Cuba's Lorenzo Aragon.
"I finished like a champion," said Martirosyan, an Armenian-born 18-year-old from Glendale, Calif. "I could have won another four rounds, to tell you the truth. I felt so good out there."
Martirosyan showed the power and flair of a contender, dictating the fight's pace with a stiff jab and opportunistic combinations. He also counterpunched effectively while landing more shots to the head than almost any competitor so far at the busy boxing venue, which hosts more than 20 fights every day of the preliminaries.
Middleweight Andre Dirrell got the United States off to a good start Saturday with a win in his preliminary bout. Two Americans received first-round byes, and five will fight in the next three days before the second round begins Wednesday.
Tougher fights still loom for a team that's thought to be among the weakest in U.S. Olympic boxing history, but the boxers believe they can improve on their four-medal haul in Sydney.
Martirosyan was one fight from elimination at the team trials in February but the two top contenders were disqualified when Andre Berto threw Juan McPherson to the canvas, injuring McPherson's neck. McPherson was medically disqualified, and Berto was banned for his actions.
