Edward S. Majian Founder of SARTONK talks Boxing, Beliefs, Branding & Legacy

Edward S. Majian, founder and president of SARTONK, the original boxing belt maker, speaks with JennieGirl.

Adapted from the Armenian word zartonk (meaning "rebirth"), SARTONK was founded in 2009, to safeguard a boxing legacy that dates back over three decades.

In the late 1970s, Ardash Sahaghian, a jeweler by trade and artist by birth, was invited to apply himself to the reinventing of championship boxing belts. It was in a New Jersey studio, under the management of Phil Valentino Sr., that Sahaghian gave shape to the now iconic modern boxing belts.

Works include WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO world championship belts, prominent regional models, specialty designs and early MMA (the original UFC belt). These, together with revisions to Ring Magazine belts, and historic reproductions of the John L. Sullivan and Rocky Marciano belts, account for his indelible mark on fight history.

Today, Sahaghian's contributions are advanced by his grandson, Edward S. Majian and today SARTONK is respected as a full-capacity design firm, with a steady flow of original and cutting-edge work.

SARTONK's legacy led to a 2012 induction of 91 year old Sahaghian into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame as Boxing's Master Craftsman. Soon to follow with its release of the "Champion of the Decade" belt. The Decade belt (Marquez v. Pacquiao IV) marked the first time that a belt itself garnered mass attention for its aesthetic value.

In 2013 ESPN The Magazine featured "Constructing for Champions" a photo spread of  Sahaghian and Majian in its June 10 issue. This coverage helped elevate boxing belts into mainstream public awareness.