Last October, IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan would win a six round technical decision over Glenn Donaire. This Saturday night, at the Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut (Showtime 9 pm ET/PT) Darchinyan faces his brother, Nonito, in defense of that crown.
So is ‘the Filipino Flash’ out for family revenge?
“It’s not so much of a revenge thing, I want to punish him, that’s the thing,” said the native of San Leandro, California, who has gotten his sparring in for this fight at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. “I want to beat his face up. I know he’s trying to do the same thing with me. But for me, I have more hunger to do that to him. I mean, everywhere I go, all they say is, ‘We want you to beat this guy up. He’s so cocky,’ this and that. It’s not so much of a revenge, as this is an opportunity for me. It’s a dream and that’s what I’m going to go in there for.”
So regardless of him beating his brother, he just doesn’t like the guy?
“Regardless, yeah. That’s his way and it’s more personal now because I’m fighting him,” explains Donaire. “But he can talk all he wants and as long as he doesn’t put it out to anybody else, he can do it to whoever. For instance, if he’s fighting that person, he can talk all he wants. As long as he’s not talking to me about it. Like I said, regardless of how much he does that, I’m fighting him – that’s what makes it personal.”
In his first bout with the Donaire family, there was some dispute if the blow that broke Glenn’s jaw was from a punch or an elbow. Some controversy ensued over whether the end result would be a technical decision or TKO. Either way, Darchinyan was the victor.
“First thing he said is that he doesn’t hit hard,” Donaire would say when asked about his brother’s experience. “He doesn’t hit hard at all. And he can see all his punches. The only reason my brother broke his jaw was from the elbow. That was the reason. But my brother’s so confident that I’ll take Darchinyan out.”
Darchinyan is one of the game’s strongest fighters in the world, pound-for-pound, but in recent bouts he has feasted on a litany of boxers who were either moving up in weight, couldn’t really punch or had aged. In Donaire, he’s facing a young, hungry fighter who has good offensive tools and has faced bigger men throughout his career. The only question is if he has the seasoning to face the hard-punching Darchinyan.
While his record is solid at 17-1, he seems a tad untested coming in.
Some were surprised that this bout was so quickly accepted by Donaire and his team. But his manager, Cameron Dunkin, had no qualms in taking this assignment.
“He’s 24 years old and I know he’s only had 18 fights but he was stalemated for years. I’ve just had him for a year-and-a-half. He’s fought more in that last year-and-a-half than he fought in four, five years. So he’s ready and he really wanted it and he wants to fight,” explained Dunkin.
Out of the two Donaires, Nonito is the more highly-regarded of the pair.
“Both of them are ballsy, both come out throwing, he’s just different,” Dunkin says of his fighter. “He’s much more talented than Glenn. He’s got God-given ability. He’s taller, he’s bigger, he can make lighter weights and still be 5’6-and-one-half and fight up to ’22. He’s got unbelievable speed, foot-speed, hand-speed, reflexes, he can crack. I actually think he’s a better puncher than Glenn, although they make Glenn the puncher.”
In addition to the physical tangibles, he seems to be much more of the fiery competitor of the two. If anyone saw his reaction to his brother’s losses against Darchinyan and Z Gorres, you got the sense he was more upset about the outcomes than his sibling.
“Oh, I have a lot of personality,” he says smiling. “That’s why I wear the red because of my personality. I’m very easily angered, I have a lot of temper and I bring it in the ring. I just love to hit somebody.” But he quickly adds, “Only in the ring, though.”
Darchinyan walks around the ring with a certain amount of arrogance. He just exudes an aura of cockiness and swagger. He’s the baddest bully on the block, much in part to the strength and power he possesses.
But as you ask Donaire about that muscle, he just grins broadly and starts to flex his own chiseled bicep.
“Like I said, I’m coming from 115, that’s my real weight right there and I’m going down,” he explains. “I can make the weight at 112 with discipline and proper training. But this guy he’s facing now is no baby. That’s all I can say.”
Dunkin is taking a calculated risk, as he believes that Darchinyan has looked dominant against no-hopers who were severely limited. And moving a fighter at the lighter weights, you can’t wait forever.
“Does he have to fight a perfect fight? Yes. Is he giving up a lot of experience? Yes. Those are the things that I’m worried about, the experience factor, the pressure,” admitted the manager. “He hasn’t been in this situation before. But, with his ability, if he fights a smart fight, just like Kelly Pavlik, he fights the right fight plan and he bullies the bully, he’s going to be fine. He’s going to win the title.
“He’s gotta fight and listen; if he does well against Darchinyan, it doesn’t hurt him if he lost a decision or something. So you gotta take the opportunity, you gotta go. He didn’t even ask who he was fighting. The second he heard, ‘world title’, he said, ‘That’s my job to fight anybody and take my opportunity. You don’t pass on world titles.’
“So he’s got the right attitude.”
“No, never any hesitation,” confirmed the 24-year old Donaire. “For me, even if it was Rafael Marquez or whoever out there, this is a fighter’s dream. If you’re offered a world title, who would deny it? I don’t care who it is. As long as you can make the weight. I’m comfortable at the weight, I’ll take whoever. That’s why the moment that it was offered to us, I was like, ‘OK, I can make this weight. I can do it.’ And that’s why there was no hesitation at all. If you’re a fighter you shouldn’t be hesitating to fight anybody.”
SHOWTIME AUTUMN
Ken Hershman, Showtime’s boxing czar, has confirmed this his network has picked up the bout between Oleg Maskaev and Sam Peter for the WBC heavyweight title on October 6th.
“Yes, it’s going to be on Showtime from Madison Square Garden. It’s the heavyweight championship of the world and we think it’s a fantastic card.”
As for a light heavyweight showdown between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver, it’s getting close, but Hershman warns, “Till it’s done, it’s never done in boxing. My hope is that everyone will do what they say they were going to do. Which is after those two fights in June that they would make a deal to fight each other and we’re working hard to make that happen and we’re optimistic that it’s going to happen.”
GIVING PEACE A CHANCE
The settlement between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, where both sides will share a promotional interest in Manny Pacquiao, is a winner for everyone involved. But especially the fighters, who now have a wider scope of bouts they can look forward to, and the fans, who were really the victims here for the last few years. They were like the kids stuck in the middle of an ugly divorce.
On October 6th, Pacquiao will face Marco Antonio Barrera at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather see ‘the Pac Man’ face Juan Manuel Marquez – who beat Barrera last March and had a disputed draw with Pacquiao in 2004. But Marquez has his own pay-per-view date on September 15th against Jorge Barrios.
In this instance, it seems that the Cold War dragged on about three or four months too long. But at least these two promotional outfits can move on into the future with some sort of detente.
But this being boxing, you get the distinct feeling that this union will have more ups and downs than the one forged between Tony Soprano and Johnny Sack and their respective crime families.
But let’s hope fights like Pacquiao-Marquez II, among many others, take place in the near future. It’s long overdue.
TJ TORNADO WORKOUT
There will be an open workout featuring WBO welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito this Tuesday at the Plaza De Mexico in Lynwood, California. The proceedings will begin at 11:30 in the Esplanade with Chris Arreola, who will be on that July 14th undercard, which features Margarito’s defense against Paul Williams.
Tickets for that bout can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com as well as the Home Depot Center box office. Also local branches of Banco Popular in the Los Angeles County will be selling tickets for the fight up until July 10th. If you open an account you will be automatically entered to win tickets for the fight.
Tickets are priced as low as $25.
FINAL FLURRIES
The two knockouts by Victor Ortiz and Darnell Wilson are candidates for KO of the Year…A fight between Wilson and O’Neil Bell would be a lot of fun, in my opinion….I hear that Tye Fields could be facing Kali Meehan on the August 9th show on ‘Versus’….I’d like to see more of Alexander Povetkin, who decisioned Larry Donald this past weekend. He could be the best young heavyweight prospect in the world….Should the Yankees be given the 10-count?….By the way, did anyone else feel for Brian Kenny on ‘FNF’ with Bob Foster? Talk about trying to get blood out of a stone. That was excruciating. But BK was professional till the very end….Let’s hope the fights on Showtime are as good as the conference call was between the four participants (Darchinyan-Donaire and Travis Simms-Joachim Alcine)….
