One of the most talented boxers in the world and one of the best pound-for-pound punchers in the game were in L.A. this past Monday to hype their November 1st showdown that will take place in what is quickly becoming THE fight venue for high-profile and hardcore matchups on the West Coast.
Cristian Mijares, the brilliant boxing holder of both WBC and WBA 115-pound titles, will take on Vic Darchinyan, the brutal bombing former flyweight titlist who recently picked up the IBF 115-pound belt, at the Home Depot Center?s outdoor tennis arena in Carson.
The two junior bantamweights met the local boxing media at a press luncheon at El Paseo restaurant on historic Olvera Street in downtown L.A. and both exuded confidence but in ways that are as different as their personalities and ring styles.
Darchinyan, 32, is a natural flyweight who possesses the strength and power of a bantamweight with a heavyweight-sized chip on his shoulder. The Australia-based Armenian is a fiercely proud competitor who wants to fight everyone of note with in three weight classes, believes in his heart that he can knockout any man, and seems almost disdainful of his opponents.
Durango, Mexico?s Mijares, 27, is just as confident and competitive as Darchinyan, but it?s a laidback sort of cockiness that exhibits in the form of his ever-present smirk and smart-alecky comments and replies to his Nov. 1st opponent?s overt aggressiveness. Mijares?s mind is as quick and sharp outside of the ring as it is inside the squared circle.
When asked his thoughts about the matchup, Darchinyan, who has scored 24 KOs in his 30-1-1 record, answered in much the same manner he fights; he went straight for the jugular.
?I don?t hesitate to take this kind of fight,? he said matter-of-factly in somewhat broken English with an Armenian-Australian accent. ?I love this fight. I?m going to enjoy this fight. I?m not just going to knock him out, I?m going to beat him up, take him to school, be smarter than him, out-box him, and then I?m going to knock him out.?
Mijares, who is unbeaten in his last 26 bouts, just chuckled as Darchinyan made his bold proclamations.
?He scares me,? Mijares, who holds a 36-3-1 (15) record, said mockingly when it was his turn behind the podium. ?I don?t like to talk too much. I?m very confident that I?m going to win this fight. I like to fight opponents like [Darchinyan] ? guys who are dangerous and who do a lot of trash talking ? because they bring out the best in me.?
If Darchinyan, who looked formidable crushing crafty title-holder Dimitry Kirilov in five rounds just two months ago, brings out the best in Mijares, who has already out-pointed skilled contender Jose Navarro and fellow belt-holder Alex Munoz this year, the fans watching on Showtime and those in attendance at the Home Depot Center are in for a real treat.
In it?s short history as a boxing venue, the 7,500-seat outdoor tennis arena of the Home Depot Center has become the premiere arena for hardcore fight fans in Southern California. As ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. stated at the start of Monday?s press conference ?If Mijares-Darchinyan took place 10 years ago it would have been at the Great Western Forum, if it took place 20 years ago it would have been at the Grand Olympic Auditorium; these days the best fights take place at the Home Depot Center.?
Since opening its doors to boxing four years ago with the Marco Antonio Barrera-Paulie Ayala featherweight bout, the tennis arena has hosted the emergence of Paul Williams (with the giant welterweight?s victories over Walter Mathysse and Antonio Margarito), the first and third bouts of Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez?s instant-classic trilogy, and one of the more dramatic finishes to a 12-round fight in recent memory with Shane Mosley?s last-second stoppage of Ricardo Mayorga last month.
Darchinyan his fought at the tennis arena before. He defended his IBF flyweight title against Victor Burgos in the co-featured bout to the first Vazquez-Marquez bout. Burgos was ruthlessly pounded for much of the one-sided fight until it was finally stopped in the 12th round. The Tijuana resident fell into a coma not long after the fight was called off. After many weeks in the hospital Burgos eventually pulled out of the coma and has reportedly made a full recovery. Darchinyan was asked if he had any ?mixed feelings? fighting in the same venue where a near tragedy occurred at his hands.
?Thank God everything has passed,? Darchinyan said. ?He?s OK. No feelings at the moment. Any opponent in front of me, I?d love to send to the hospital, but [after the fight] I?m happy to go to their homes [as a friend].?
In his very next fight, four months after the Burgos bout, Darchinyan was brutally knocked out with a single left hook in the fifth round of a title defense against Nonito Donaire. The shocking loss was an immediate candidate for both Knockout of the Year and Upset of the Year for 2007. Many fans and boxing writers wondered if the KO would have lasting effects on Darchinyan?s psyche, but the scrappy fighter brushes it off as a fluke and says he looks forward to proving his doubters wrong by beating Mijares and eventually facing Donaire in a rematch.
?You boxing experts, you?re talking about how I lost [to Donaire], I did not lose, I made a mistake,? he said. ?You?ve seen my fights before. I always play with my opponent for three or four rounds before I take them out. I did this with [Luis] Maldonado. For four rounds it was an even fight then I decided to punish him and knock him out; same thing with Donaire. After four rounds I decided that he was nothing. I was going to take him out in the middle of the fifth round. I jumped into his big punch. It was an accident. It?s boxing. It happens. It was a one-in-a-million shot and I?ll prove it when I fight him again.?
I realize most fans who read this quote are probably marveling at the degree of denial that Darchinyan suffers from, but you have to admire his willingness to face the best fighters in and around his division.
If Mijares, who many fans and pundits rank among their pound-for-pound top 10, isn?t the best 115 pounder in the world than his countryman from Los Mochis, WBO belt-holder Fernando Montiel, is. And Darchinyan wants a piece of him, too.
When asked if the winner of the Nov. 1st showdown wishes to take on Montiel in a battle for all the junior bantamweight marbles, Darchinyan answered:
?I?d love to fight Montiel, and own the WBO belt. I already fought his brother [Alejandro Montiel in 2003]. He?s no. 2 [at 115 pounds in The Ring rankings] Cristian is no. 1. The winner of that fight would have The Ring belt, and I?d love to.?
Mijares said he was not interested in a fourth belt at 115 pounds.
?After I win my third title I?m moving up to the bantamweight division,? he said through translator and co-promoter Nacho Huizar.
If Mijares beats Darchinyan I think most fans would rather see the ultra-skilled and versatile boxer stay at junior bantamweight and attempt to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he?s best 115 pounder of this decade (and arguably the best since Johnny Tapia or Khaosai Galaxy) by taking on the super-talented Montiel. The winner of that showdown would be considered at top five pound-for-pound player in some corners of the boxing world. There is no such challenge for Mijares at bantamweight.
But Darchinyan cautions us know-it-alls from counting him out vs. Mijares. Don?t be blinded by his attitude and punching power, he says, he can also box when he needs to.
?People never talk about how smart I am,? he told me after the presser. ?I can box. I proved it when I fought Kirilov. He was supposed to be the smarter fighter who was going to take me to school and put combinations on me, but I took him to school before I knocked him out.
?I was a 2000 Olympian [for Armenia]. I?ve been boxing since I was eight years old. I had 320 amateur bouts, 170 were international competition. I stopped my opponents in 105 bouts, but I out-boxed most of them. I can box!
?I?m not going to fight a stupid fight like [Jorge] Arce did against Mijares. Arce was looking for one big punch. He was predictable. I won?t be.?
Darchinyan says style will play a big part in this fight.
?I have an awkward style,? he said. ?Of course that helps me. Mijares is like Kirilov or Maldonado or Navarro. They are all good fighters but they all have the standard boxing style.
?Kirilov beat Navarro by a split decision, just like Mijares. I knocked Kirilov out. Maldonado held Mijares to a draw [in 2006]. I knocked Maldonado out. Think about that before you pick Mijares to beat me. And when I beat him I will remind you and the other boxing writers. Don?t say that he wasn?t that good when I beat him. He?s unbeaten for six years, 26 fights. He?s no. 8 pound for pound in The Ring. Where will I be ranked when I beat him??
I told you this guy had a heavyweight-sized chip on his shoulder. God bless him.
TRAVIESO
Mijares, Montiel and Darchinyan might be the class of the 115-pound division right now, but the most popular junior bantie in the world is still Jorge Arce, who recently picked up the ?interim? WBA title with a back-and-forth war with Rafael Concepcion last month.
Arce, who can draw crowds of 7,500 in Texas and Southern California and easily attracts 15,000-18,000 in Mexico (where he is often watched by as many as 28 million on TV Azteca), makes a quick return to the ring as the co-featured bout to a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view card headlined by the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Matt Vanda rematch.
Arce will take on former flyweight title holder Isidro ?Chino? Rivera in what looks like a fun card at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. I just wish the show wasn?t taking place on the same night (Nov. 1st) as Mijares-Darchinyan.
The 115-pound title unification bout is by far the more significant event, but there?s no doubt in my mind that Bob Arum?s show in Vegas, which also features Darchinyan?s conqueror Nonito Donaire and Vanes Martirosyan, will attract more ticket buyers.
The Chavez name still attracts Mexican fans (even here in the States), Donaire and Martirosyan are budding stars within Filipino and Armenian communities, and Arce always delivers in terms of action and showmanship.
His out-going personality has as much to do with his popularity as his relentless aggression in the ring. He?s an impish little brute with a crude since of humor, and he?s very hard not to like.
Arce?s gregarious nature was on display this past Friday during a small open workout along with Garcia at the Montebello PAL gym.
Arce was in Mexico when the kick-off presser for the card [in Century City] took place three weeks ago, so he missed out on being interviewed for the pre-show. A film crew was at the PAL to shoot Arce?s pre-show segment and the producer was little testy when it came to the noise level in the gym. He twice came out of the office where Arce was being interviewed and pleaded with the assembled media to keep it down. Finally, Arce emerged from the back room and told everyone in English: ?Hey guys, please, close your f__king mouths or I?ll kick your asses, OK? Thank you!?
Arce got the laugh from the press that he wanted. He likes to entertain. My guess is that his desire to succeed in boxing is driven by a need to please his fans as much as it is by making money and winning world titles.
If Arce wins but isn?t entertaining in doing so, he isn?t satisfied.
?Did you see my last fight?? he asked me in English.
I had, and I told him I was impressed with his 10th-round stoppage of Concepcion (who was just two months removed from an impressive stoppage of unbeaten AJ Banal).
?But did you think it was a good fight?? he asked.
?Yeah,? I replied, ?Hell yeah!?
Arce?s face lit up with a big smile.
?I broke his ribs, he was pissing blood after the fight,? he said with unapologetic sadistic glee.
I chuckled and told him that his English was really coming along.
?I?m practicing,? he said. ?I like it. I like being able to talk to American fans.?
The Concepcion fight, which took place at Arena Mexico in Mexico City on Mexican Independence Day, was the 29-year-old veteran?s 50th victory in 55 pro bouts. Arce?s been in many wars and he likes to party. Most observers believe that his days are numbered as a world-class player and one gets the feeling that Arce knows that he can?t keep it up much longer.
He says he wants to finish his career fighting only the biggest fights and he wants those fights to take place in America, hence his effort to learn English. He wants to appeal to as many boxing fans as possible and he wants them all to be entertained by his fights.
?Because of where it was and when it was, the Concepcion fight was the most exciting of my career,? he said with a translation assist from Ricardo Jimenez. ?There was a lot at stake, personally, because I dedicated the fight to my father who had just turned 60 and was retiring from his job after 45 years.
?But there are bigger fights for me here in the U.S. This fight with Garcia is going to be a good fight because whenever I fight a right-handed fighter there?s lots of action. It?s only when I fight southpaws ? like Mijares or the fighter from Thailand [Devid Lookmahanak] I fought in May ? when I have trouble.?
The fight that Arce has been pushing since the start of the year, and still wants to make despite going life and death with the likes of Lookmahanak and Concepcion at 115 pounds, is a match with 122-pound champ Israel Vazquez.
?It?s an action fight!? Arce said in English.
I don?t like the fight for Arce, but I conceded that it would draw as many as 30,000 in Mexico City.
?Forget that,? he said. ?I want to fight Israel in the U.S., in Vegas. Show me the money, baby!
?Las Vegas is where the money is at. I talked to Israel at my last fight. He was there. He feels the same way. He thinks it?s a great fight. He?s the pound-for-pound best and I?m very popular. Let?s do it! Vegas-style, baby! Show me the f__king money!!!?
Arce should really switch to decaf.
I asked him if he had any interest in the Mijares-Darchinyan fight.
?Only if Darchinyan wins,? he said. ?People would like to see that fight more than a rematch with Mijares. I don?t know if he can do it, though. Darchinyan might be too slow for Mijares. Mijares sees everything you throw at him and then he?s blocking and moving around. He?s no fun to watch and he?s no fun to fight, believe me. I don?t think Darchinyan will find him, but maybe he?ll get lucky and we?ll have a popular fight to make at 115 pounds.?
I?ll pay to see that one.
