CABAZON, Calif. — If Vanes Martirosyan wanted to make a statement that he should be taken seriously as a junior middleweight, he had the right platform to do it.

Martirosyan won a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision over Mario Lozano at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa on Friday. The bout was the main event of a Goossen Tutor Promotions card that was televised on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.

Martirosayn looked good but fans would like to see if he can do it consistently in future fights.

The last time the boxing world saw Martirosyan in a ring was on Nov. 9, when he lost a 12-round split decision to Demetrius Andrade.

Martirosyan was fighting for the first time under the Goossen Tutor banner Friday night after being promoted by Top Rank since his professional debut in 2005.

It was also his first time working with trainer Joe Goossen. Up until Friday night, Martirosyan had reportedly been working with Goossen for only three weeks.

Martirosyan was on the attack from the opening bell, throwing and landed hard right hands to the head of Lozano. Martirosyan landed repeatedly with those right hands, which caused Lozano’s nose to start bleeding in the opening round.

Midway through the second round, Martirosyan dropped Lozano with a counter right hand to the head. Lozano did not visibly look hurt, got up and fought on.

The pace of the fight slowed by the fourth round. Martirosyan worked from the outside, setting up his right hand behind a jab.

To his credit, Lozano did not back down after the early onslaught from Martirosyan. He looked for angles or ways to counter Martirosyan, occasionally sneaking in a counter right hand to the head.

Although the pace slowed in the second half of the fight, Martirosyan was in control, still landing counter right hands to the head of Lozano. Any time Lozano attempted to rally, Martirosyan was able to snuff it out by landing a series of rights and an occasional left.

All three judges scored the bout 100-89 in favor of Martirosyn, who won the WBO Intercontinental title in the process.

The Armenian-born Martirosyan, who resides in Glendale, Calif., goes to 34-1-1, 21 KOs. Lozano, from Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, drops to 28-5, 22 KOs.

Peterson decisions Jimenez

In the opening bout of the Friday Night Fights telecast, lightweight Anthony Peterson won a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision over Marcos Jimenez.

Peterson is the younger brother of former junior welterweight world title holder Lamont Peterson.

Anthony Peterson had not fought since last May, when he stopped Dominic Salcido in the second round. Jimenez entered the bout having won two bouts in a row.

Peterson dictated the pace by staying on the outside, landing right hands to the head that were set up by peppering jabs.

Jimenez came on in the third round, finding some success by landing overhand right hands to the head of Peterson. There were times when Jimenez landed below Peterson’s beltline, which prompted a warning from referee Raul Caiz, Jr.

The fight eventually went on the inside as both landed hooks and crosses. Peterson’s punches were more effective as he was able to land two or three punches for every one that Jimenez landed.

The pace slowed in the second half of the fight. Jimenez’s punch output dropped considerably while Peterson was content to either box from the outside or land when he was inside of Jimenez’s guard.

Sensing he was down, Jimenez picked up the pace in the final round. He went on the attack, but when he opened up, Peterson tried to counter with hooks and crosses.

All three judges scored the bout in favor Peterson, 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

Peterson, from Washington, D.C. improves to 33-1, 21 KOs. Jimenez, from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, falls to 20-5, 13 KOs.

In other bouts:

Junior welterweight Abel Ramos (9-0-1 , 4 KOs) stopped Rodolfo Armenta (12-13-1, 9 KOs) at 2:37 of the third round. Ramos fought to an eight round draw against Maurice Hooker on January 17^th.

Welterweight Tevin Watts (2-0, 1 KO) won a four round unanimous decision over Vicente Guzman. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Watts.

The scheduled four round bout between Benito Salazar (0-1-1) and Manuel Romero (0-2-1) ended in a technical draw in the second round after Salazar suffered a cut that was deemed too deep for allow him to continue.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing