It doesn’t rain often in Southern California in early November. But that’s precisely what happened on Saturday as thunderstorms pelted the region throughout the afternoon. As the precious few diehards started filing into the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, the rain started to come down in buckets. It wouldn’t do much for the expected walk-up sales for that evening?s bout between Vic Darchinyan and Cristian Mijares, but it would be symbolic of what would take place later.
At 7:01 pm, both boxers were in the ring and ready to square off with one another in what was an eagerly anticipated showdown between two of the world’s premier jr. bantamweights. For a couple of hours the precipitation had subsided and it had turned into a rather warm, comfortable evening. But just a few moments before the first bell was to have sounded, a few raindrops dotted the reporters? notebooks and laptops ringside.
They would be the last drops of moisture anyone would have to contend with, but unfortunately for Mijares – who came into the bout with the WBA and WBC titles around his waist – he still had to contend with the storm that was Darchinyan, who rained a torrent of hard left-hands and uppercuts in what became a shockingly one-sided destruction of the Mexican stylist. After virtually pitching a shutout for eight rounds (he was leading 79-72 on all three scorecards) he would then put a punctuation mark on his bold statement by knocking out Mijares at the end of the ninth frame with a pulverizing left that left his overwhelmed foe prone on the canvas.
From the very onset of this fight, Darchinyan not only bullied Mijares, but to the surprise of almost every pundit and observer, outboxed, outthought and outmaneuvered a man considered to be among the purest boxers in the sport. Mijares’ trademark smirk was wiped off his face early on as he was floored by the Aussie-based Armenian with a powerful uppercut that put him on his backside. Throughout the middle rounds, Mijares would try to work his way back into the proceedings, but he could never really get in sync as he was troubled and unnerved by the unusual style of Darchinyan that has him uncoiling and striking like a venomous cobra.
?From the very first round I didn’t get stupid,” said the victor, who boldly predicted his domination beforehand. “I promised to deliver a skillful, smart fight. I promised to destroy him and knock him out, I did that.”
Perhaps the fight was won even before they stepped into the ring, as it was reported that the swaggering Darchinyan had aggressively approached Mijares at the fight hotel earlier in the week, which, according to some associates of Mijares, did bother him more than a tad. But nothing irritates a boxer more than repeatedly getting beat to the punch – and getting hit hard, to boot. It was Mijares who was supposed to be the elusive one, the one that would riddle Darchinyan, making him miss and making him pay.
Instead, it was the other way around. The boxer was simply outclassed all night by the supposedly one-dimensional puncher. And this was a boxer that many (including this one) had deemed as one of the best in the world. “To all the writers and reporters in boxing, did I keep my promise? What about my ranking? Mijares was number six,” Darchinyan would point out. And he has a point, since getting halted by Nonito Donaire last summer, he has since rebounded with a dubious draw against Z Gorres (a fight he seemed to win handily), and knockouts against Dimitry Kirilov (for the IBF belt) and now Mijares. He now has in his possession three of the major world titles.
It wasn’t so shocking that Darchinyan came out victorious (yes, he was a heavy underdog and punchers should never be counted out) but that he was simply so dominant throughout.
“I was afraid of this fight and sitting there was like having an out of body experience,” said his promoter, Gary Shaw, who had to be convinced to make this match by his fighter. “He did everything he said he would do. He said he would be faster, stronger, smarter, break him down and knock him out and he did all of the above.”
As for the future?
“We want De La Hoya at a catch-weight of 152-pounds,” said Gary Shaw. And we’re not really sure if he’s being facetious or not based on Darchinyan’s gumption and De La Hoya’s recent track record. But he says in terms of smaller, perhaps more realistic options, “I’m thinking Arce, I’m thinking Montiel, I’m thinking Israel Vazquez, I’m thinking Rafael Marquez.”
Conspicuous by his absence on that list is Donaire, who handed Darchinyan his only professional defeat via knockout. But it looks like personal and business issues will keep this rematch from taking place in the near future.
?He has no chance, no shot,” reiterated Shaw, who promoted Donaire before an acrimonious split earlier this year. “There should be a price paid for total disloyalty. I gave him a shot against Darchinyan, he won the title fair and square and then he turned against me for no reason. And today, had he stayed with me, his next fight would’ve been for three world titles at 115.”
Regardless, that was quite a storm that came through So Cal.
Its name was Darchinyan.
RAINED OUT
The announced crowd at the Home Depot Center was just above 3,000, but it seemed much closer to 1,500. With the inclement weather, USC taking on Washington at the Coliseum, the ever-popular Lakers on TV that night and a full-slate of college football games on (including the insta-classic between Texas Tech and Texas), this promotion never had much of a chance to get off the ground.
In speaking about the rain, Shaw quipped, “It didn’t make a difference because when the skies opened up, God looked down upon Team Darchinyan. So it was a great day.”
I’ll say this; the folks who did show up are the real true hardcore fans. With all the other options they had, to come out and support the business of boxing says a lot. If it were up to me, I’d give every individual who showed up a $50 voucher for the next pay-per-view show. Of course, keep in mind, I’m not in charge.
JUNIOR ATTRACTION
There was an announced crowd of around 5,000 for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s ten round decision over Matt Vanda at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. But I’ve been told that the actual number of tickets sold for this promotion was not in the thousands, but the hundreds.
It was reported early in the week by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports that Bob Arum had gotten permission to give away tickets to a local air force base. Employees of the hotel were also offered tickets.
I think it’s pretty clear that until Chavez Jr. fights a more credible or respected foe, he can draw in Mexico (in cities such as Hermosillo, Queretaro and Leon) or in destinations like Albuquerque, New Mexico, but he simply can not headline the marquee in Las Vegas.
FINAL FLURRIES
Bright prospect Miguel Garcia got quite a test versus Walter Estrada on Telefutura. He hit the deck, but he was able to outpoint a tough, southpaw veteran over eight valuable rounds….Can’t really give any insight on the pay-per-view card from Vegas, as I haven’t seen it yet….Andre Dirrell is still a bit hard to watch, but he is effective….So is Graham Harrell or Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech now the Heisman frontrunner?…..If there is a one-loss Big 12 team, a one-loss SEC squad and an unbeaten Penn State, I think USC, for as well as they might be playing, will be on the outside looking in at the Orange Bowl….Was Michael Vick getting busted the best thing that ever happened to the Atlanta Falcons? Matty Ice is for real….The Lakers look good so far. But it’s early. Real early…..
