Whom should we banish to Armenia? Vic Darchinyan will fight in his native country in 2010, promoter Gary Shaw announced Wednesday. But against whom?
No, not Nonito Donaire. We want that fight for the Bay Area. But if Gerry Penalosa were to fight as well against Darchinyan as he did in his game loss to Juan Manuel Lopez last spring, Penalosa could beat Darchinyan.
Although Manny Pacquiao and others reportedly persuaded Penalosa, 37, to retire after Penalosa’s loss to JuanMa, wouldn’t it be great to see the legendary left-hander go out with a whipping of Darchinyan at a catch weight, of say, 120 pounds? There was no shame losing to Lopez like that. No one is better from 126 on down than Lopez (unless it’s Donaire). The point is, Lopez is much more imposing than Darchinyan.
Penalosa’s pull in the Philippines and Japan would give a promotion in Armenia, an earthquake-prone former Soviet satellite near Turkey, a big boost in the small country’s first pro boxing venture of any kind. Darchinyan has done most of his fighting in Australia and the United States, but I just learned at my high school reunion that you can go home again.
“President (Serzh) Sargsyan expressed his readiness to assist in the implementation of this event,’’ Shaw said. “He also expressed confidence that it would attract thousands of Armenian boxing fans and would be an excellent opportunity to present Armenia to the world, since this would be televised internationally.”
I bash Gary Shaw a lot, but this is a great idea. It probably will succeed, no matter the opponent. But it would be best if the opponent could bring as much to the table as would Penalosa.
