??for the good of Vic Darchinyan, for the people who love him and care about him and want to see him hurt no more than his profession strictly requires in the course of such a violent business, he needs to retire. Because this is the kind of thing that makes fight fans question why we continue to support such barbarity.?– Fox Doucette
One June 6, 2015, Featherweight Jesus Cuellar showed no mercy as he KO?d 39-year-old former multiple title-holder Vic ?Raging Bull? Darchinyan (40-8-1) in Round 8. The fight continued longer than it should have, as Cuellar nailed Darchinyan against the ropes a few times before referee Tom Taylor called a halt to the head-snapping slaughter. Vic, his punch resistance now gone, has lost five of his last eight fights and three of his last four.
More to the point, Vic has been knocked out concussively four times, including three in his last four outings. He was hammered by Nicholas Walters last June, Nonito Donaire (for a second time) in 2013, and now Cuellar.
The always exciting Darchinyan won major world titles at flyweight, making 6 defenses of the IBF belt, and also at junior bantamweight where he unified three titles. Winning his first 38 fights?many against top-notch opposition– he also was a top-10 contender at bantamweight where he fought the very best of this era. Even after the first Donaire loss, he beat the likes of Dmitry Kirillov, Christian Mijares, and Jorge Arce. But that was then and this is now– and now it is time for the 39-year-old to retire. Like Jose Victor Burgos whom Vic stopped in March 2007 and who is lucky to still be alive as a result of that late-round TKO, there is no return ticket for Vic.
Stop now, Vic. Please.
