On an unusually cool summer night,  approximately 50 boxing fans gathered to watch the Pay-per-view telecast of Hasim Rahman versus Oleg Maskaev at The White Rock Gym in White Rock, S.C.  But the main reason they were there was to cheer on their fighter Marcus Brooks who was fighting the hard-punching Vanes Martirosyan in the opening fight of the under card. This show of support was not enough though, as Vanes fought a great fight and defeated Marcus over 6 tough rounds. This was a big step up for Brooks and I commend him for having the confidence to step in there with a fighter of Vanes's caliber. He can hold his head high knowing that he got up off the canvas in the first round and did his best, against one of the world's best fighters in 2004 Olympian Martirosyan. Marcus had his moments and proved to be Vanes's toughest test yet, all the while showing a great chin and serious determination.  There is an old saying: "Sometimes you have to lose to win" and at only 21 years old Marcus Brooks still has a very bright future in this sport. He now knows what it feels like to be in there against a world class fighter and he can work on the lessons that he has learned from this experience.  Thank you Marcus for your courage in defeat and kudos to Martirosyan and camp for a great promotion.