A pair of undefeated champions suffered upset losses on Showtime Championship Boxing on Saturday night. In the main event, WBA Junior Middleweight titleholder Travis Simms dropped a unanimous decision to Joachim Alcine, while IBF Flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan suffered a shocking knockout loss to challenger Nonito Donaire in the opener.
The opening bout of the telecast provided fireworks early and set the tone for a night of upsets. IBF Flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan, who had looked unstoppable in earlier televised title defenses, was baffled and finally knocked out by Nonito Donaire.
In six previous title defenses, Darchinyan’s crude style—relentlessly stalking opponents and throwing left-handed power shots from a southpaw stance—made up in power what it lacked in technique. Donaire seemed to have Darchinyan scouted well, however. Not only did he short-circuit the Darchinyan offense, but he found a way to build an offense around counters to the Darchinyan power shots that were sure to come.
Donaire threw right-hand leads from the opening bell, landing most of them in the early rounds and confusing Darchinyan. The first round was almost a shutout in Donaire’s favor. When Darchinyan landed his first solid left, early in the second round, Donaire was ready with an immediate left-hook counter.
Darchinyan made an adjustment in the third round, showing a boxing savvy that many observers weren’t sure he had. He went to the right jab, which kept Donaire at bay for most of the third round. However, in the final thirty seconds, when Darchinyan found room for another big left hand, Donaire responded with the hook again, stunning Darchinyan and opening a cut next to the right eye of the champion.
After keeping his distance in round four and staying out of reach of Darchinyan, Donaire went back to work in the fifth round. It didn’t take long for the theme of the bout to once again present itself. Early in the fifth, Darchinyan again came stalking in to throw a wild left power shot. And again, Donaire was ready with the counter. The left hook landed flush on the side of the head and leveled Darchinyan. The champion tried to regain his feet and collapsed face first on the mat, which may have been the blow that bloodied Darchinyan’s nose. The referee waved off the bout at :38 of the fifth.
Darchinyan fell to 28-1 and suffered the first knockdown of his career. Donaire avenged Darchinyan’s October, 2006 victory over his brother Glenn, won the IBF Flyweight crown, and moved to 18-1 with his eleventh knockout.
Simms loses
Simms came out aggressively against Alcine, throwing a pair of left crosses at the opening bell. Alcine, appearing in his first world title bout, seemed to suffer from stage fright, as he spent most of the early rounds waiting to let his hands go.
Simms built an early lead, targeting lead lefts and generally throwing more often and more accurately than the challenger. As the first half of the fight ended, Alcine dug an even deeper hole. He was penalized in the sixth round for hitting on the break.
The surprising penalty served to wake Alcine from his early slumber, and the two fighters switched roles for the second half of the fight. During rounds seven through 12, Alcine was more often the aggressor, while Simms threw less and less, often tying up the onrushing Alcine instead of countering. Alcine seemed to get the better of prolonged exchanges of power shots in rounds seven and eight, which may have led to Simms’ decision to clutch and grab.
After several warnings, Simms was penalized a point for excessive holding in round eight. Alcine continued to get inside with power shots. He peppered Simms with double hooks to the body and head early in the ninth round. At the midway point of the ninth, Alcine caught an off-balance Simms with a solid short left that sent Simms to the canvas. The punch was tough to detect on live-action, but Showtime replays confirmed that the knockdown call was the correct one.
As the fight entered the championship rounds, Simms saw his early lead slipping away, having lost an extra point in each of the last two frames. However, the champion didn’t display much urgency in rounds 10 through 12. Alcine continued to land well, while Simms went back to holding as Alcine got inside to the body and head.
The controversial knockdown and penalty did not influence the outcome of the fight, as the scorecards had the surprisingly large margins of 115-110, 114-111, and 116-109, all in Alcine’s favor. TigerBoxing scored it 113-112, giving each fighter six rounds, with the three point deductions (two penalties and a knockdown) tilting it in Alcine’s favor.
Alcine moved to 29-0 and won the WBA Junior Middleweight crown. Simms failed in his attempt to defend the title for the third time and fell to 25-1.
