The cocky and brash personality of Vic Darchinyan fits perfectly with his fighting style. The (36-3) slugger rarely takes a round off and he is constantly prodding forward seeking to unleash his wicked left. His style is exciting because he isn’t a defensive fighter. Darchinyan commits one of the worst crimes in boxing by placing his hands low, almost taunting his opponent to try and hit him. His defensive lapses paired with his explosive knockout power make Darchinyan one of the most exciting fighters today.
He can sure talk the talk, but has failed to deliver the walk in three fights. After suffering the first loss of his career, courtesy of a left hook from Nonito Donaire, Darchinyan bounced back by winning the next four fights. His list of victims during that streak included Dimitriv Kirilov (KO), Christian Mijares (KO) and Jorge Arce (RTD).
He unified the super flyweight titles before moving up to fight bantamweight king Joseph Agbeko. The Armenian-born fighter didn’t change his brawling style against Agbeko. Both produced an action-packed bout, but it was Darchinyan who was overpowered by Agbeko. After his loss to Agbeko, Darchinyan decided that he needed to learn how to fight smart and box. The decision didn?t do him any good against Mares. He strung three victories against no-name opponents before losing the third fight of his career against Abner Mares. But he signaled his return to form by blasting Yonnhy Perez last week. Fortunately for fight fans he reverted back to his brawling ways against Perez. He has not evolved into a boxer like some suggests but into a more aggressive and smarter brawler.
In his fights before Perez, Darchinyan was content on trying to land a big left hand. He had a dangerous left hand — left uppercut, left straight, left hook, left looping punch and any other variation of the left hand you can think of — that he followed up with nothing. There was no need in the lower weight classes. One left punch was all it took. No combinations were needed. Once the head-seeking left landed it was all over.
But since he moved up in weight, Darchinyan realized that he can’t knock out the bigger guys with one punch. The power he had in the lower classes didn’t carry over as expected. This is one of reasons why he was led to believe he needed to learn how to box.
In the Perez fight, Darchinyan, a notoriously slow starter, got off to a blazing start. He stunned Perez in the first round with a wicked left straight. Instead of pulling back to admire his handy work, Darchinyan followed up with combinations. Left hand, right hook, left straight, left uppercut. Darchinyan was relentless.
He never allowed Perez to settle into a rhythm. This was something new. Darchinyan threw combinations and rocketed out the gates. It was a different Darchinyan. He still possessed a brawler?s mentality, but seemed more methodical and cerebral as a brawler. Swarming the opponent with punches from all angles after a big left was the key to hurting bigger opponents.
We see boxers evolve from brawlers to boxers as they age to limit wear and tear and to lengthen their careers. But with Darchinyan, he continues to talk the talk while walking the walk at the age of 35. He still fights the same way. The only difference is the detour he took while crossing the street.
