Filipino challenger Nonito (Flash) Donaire vowed to expose IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan as an overrated bully in their scheduled 12-round title fight in Connecticut last Saturday night and did it in style.
Within hours after Florante Condes won the IBF minimumweight crown in Jakarta, Donaire added a second jewel to the country’s trophy collection by knocking out the cocky Armenia-born Australian with a picture-perfect left hook to the jaw at 0:38 of the fifth round.
Condes failed to make good on his promise to knock out Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia but floored the IBF minimumweight champion twice to wrest the crown via a split 12-round decision at the RCTI TV studio in Jakarta late Saturday night.
Darchinyan, 31, took Donaire lightly and brashly predicted he would pulverize the Flash then go up in weight all the way to take on Manny Pacquiao. But Donaire, born in Taliban, Bohol, and raised in General Santos City before migrating to San Leandro, California, with his parents, two brothers and a sister in 1991, had other plans.
“For all my people in The Philippines who didn’t believe in me before, I hope you are believers in me now,” said Donaire. “I worked so hard for this fight and I always knew if I were given the opportunity to fight Darchinyan I would beat him, even if it meant me going down to a weight I hadn’t fought at in many years. I am proud to be a Filipino and I hope my people are just as proud of me as their new world champion. We will move forward together defending this title.”
Darchinyan was untouchable in the 112-pound division, racing to a 28-0 record, with 22KOs, and crushing six challengers in a row, including Donaire’s brother Glenn and another Filipino, Diosdado Gabi.
Donaire, however, said Darchinyan feasted on smaller foes and had never been tested by quality opposition. Darchinyan’s swarming style overwhelmed opponents who were intimidated by the burly, trash-talking Armenian.
Donaire, 24, entered the ring to face Darchinyan a huge underdog. But when the bell rang, it didn’t look like the odds fazed Donaire who rushed out of his corner to give Darchinyan a neat boxing lesson.
Writer Mark Vester said Donaire did an excellent job of “landing his punches, getting away from counters and putting on a boxing clinic.” Darchinyan was reduced to a punching bag, a large target for Donaire’s precision punches.
A left hook to the jaw sent Darchinyan crashing to the canvas. Referee Eddie Claudio of New York could’ve counted to 20 and the Armenian still wouldn’t have been able to beat the count.
Although Donaire dominated every round, two of the judges scorecards read 38-all at the end of four rounds. The other judge saw Donaire in a sweep, 40-36.
