Despite the postponement of the ?Super Six? contest between Arthur Abraham and Andre Dirrell, the show will go on at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California (Showtime, 9 PM, ET/PT). The night?s main event now features junior bantamweight champion, Vic Darchinyan (who was to have been the opening act before Dirrell?s back problems) facing Rodrigo Guerrero. Darchinyan is heavily favored to turn away the challenge of the relatively inexperienced Mexican.
What Darchinyan is really looking forward to is another crack at one Nonito Donaire, who gored ?The Raging Bull? of Australia back in July of 2007, in five rounds.
While appearing on Maxboxing?s ?The Main Event,? he said, “I?ve been waiting for the rematch for years. If the guy wants to fight me, he?ll fight me. I am holding two belts; if he thinks he?s better than me and he wants to prove it, he will fight me. I don?t think he will fight me because he knows, that night it happened, it was a mistake. I was rushed, I was unfocused and now he don?t want to fight me, y?know?”
Darchinyan believes that while ?The Filipino Flash? bested him that particular night in Bridgeport, CT, he is not the superior fighter. But to his credit, he doesn?t say that the counter left hook that stopped him was a lottery ticket punch.
“It?s not lucky;” he said, “it?s boxing. I jump, I made mistake, he got me. If you count like that, then you can say all knockout punches are lucky, y?know? I just was not patient; I decided to go and knock him out and I get hit with big punch. Boxing is not luck; you train hard, you get knockout like I did my last fight. I guess you could say I was lucky. It was good timing, y?know?” Darchinyan is referring to his highlight reel stoppage of Tomas Rojas back in December, where he blasted Rojas with a left that left him out cold in the second frame.
Going back to his loss to Donaire, he continued, “That just was not my day, I wasn?t patient. He win; congratulations to him. If he can beat me second time, knock me out, it?s not luck. He deserves it. So that?s why in his mind, he knows he can?t beat me. That?s why he doesn?t want to fight me.”
When they first hooked up, it was for Darchinyan?s IBF 112-pound strap, this time around, the Armenian-Australian has the WBA and WBC titles at junior bantamweight.
“I?m staying in the weight division because I want a rematch. The point is he should fight me because I have two belts. If he thinks he?s better than me, he should fight me and take from me two belts,” he says. “Why do you want to fight some guy who?s unknown and smaller than him and they?re not holding any belts. If you think you can knock me out, do it again; I?m ready for it. That?s why I?m in this weight division, but this is going to be his last chance, this one. If he?s not going to fight me, I?m moving up and I?m vacating the titles.”
Back in the summer, Darchinyan was unsuccessful in lifting the IBF bantamweight title from Joseph Agbeko. Was that a clear sign that he is too small and perhaps not nearly as strong as he was at the lighter weight classes? Darchinyan scoffs at the notion. “No, no, no, I?m not too small. Once again, I was impatient. How can I be small if I was pushing this guy all 12 rounds?” he asked rhetorically. “And yeah, I was rushing too much, trying to throw big punch. In boxing, it happens; you learn from your mistakes. It happened with Nonito. I did mistakes; I came back. I won against three world champions in a row by knockout.”
When Darchinyan says ?impatient,? it?s really another way of saying he becomes Manny Pacquiao circa 2005, a one-armed bandit who can be over-reliant on his potent left hand. Against Agbeko, who out-pointed him in August, he reverted back to some bad habits.
“That is right, yeah,” he admitted. “Because I know my left is too powerful. Which is my point; I want to go and knock out my opponent with my left in one punch. That?s what I mean about patience.”
You have to say this about Darchinyan, the man isn?t just full of piss-and-vinegar; he?s also filled with an abundance of ambition. He wants to eventually go big-game hunting all the way up to the featherweight division. He insists he isn?t too small. “I know they can feel my power,” he stated. “They know I can punch hard. I want to move up and fight with champions and show them I can punch harder than they think.” Darchinyan says he?ll make the ascension in weight, step by step. “I want to move up. I want to move up and fight guys bigger than me, heavier than me and I want to compete with their power.”
But he still feels he has unfinished business with Donaire.
“I know my mistake. I want my revenge; I want a rematch and I want to show everyone that it was a mistake from me. The guy knows he can?t beat me [again]; he don?t want to fight me anymore. Always, he keeps saying, he already knock me out, why does he have to fight me? Well, you knock me out, I got two titles now. You know you?re much bigger than me, much stronger than me, you fought me and you already beat me. Come take from the two other belts. Why don?t you want to take these titles?”
It?s a good question. It seems in 2010, that Bob Arum (who represents Donaire) is more and more inclined to match his own fighters against each other, when it?s at all possible. Top Rank has seemingly become ?Top Incest.? But here?s the thing, what plausible reason is there not to make Donaire-Darchinyan II? There is a built-in storyline; Darchinyan is the ruler of the division and it?s the most lucrative and high-profile fight that can be made at 115.
But since 2007, while Darchinyan has consistently faced quality opposition (losing just once to Agbeko), Donaire has become ?Mr. Pinoy Power.?
“That?s my point,” said Darchinyan. “I don?t believe he?s pound-for-pound; they put him pound-for-pound. In three years time, he didn?t beat any good opponents. Who he beat? People three weight divisions smaller than him. I beat three world champions in a row; I knocked them all out. All the boxing experts, they can see what?s happening.”
Unfortunately, what?s happening may not be a rematch between the two.
CONDOLENCES
Edward Shaw, father of Darchinyan?s promoter, Gary Shaw, passed away on Thursday at the age of 92. From what I?m told, Shaw, who was already in town for the Darchinyan fight, flew back east.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, March 9th, beginning at 10 AM ET at the Jewish Memorial Chapel (841 Allwood Road, Clifton, NJ 07012). The Shaw family will be sitting Shiva on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the residence of Judy and Gary Shaw (33 Divan Way, Wayne, NJ 07470)
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in Edward Shaw?s memory to the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge: http://www.rbari.org/donate.html
The Maxboxing family sends its thoughts and prayers to the Shaw family.
SHOBOX
This weekend?s card on Showtime is now a special, super-duper edition of ?ShoBox.? Going forward, this series is setting its schedule for the spring:
April 2nd: Erislandy Lara vs. David Perez, Carlos Velasquez vs. TBA
April 16th: Card yet to be announced.
April 30th: A tripleheader featuring Marcus Johnson, Don George, and Edwin Rodriguez.
WEEKEND FLURRIES
Finally got around to seeing Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.?s surprisingly easy KO victory over Marvin Sonsona. Sonsona really looked overmatched in there physically…Did someone on ESPN actually try and compare the comeback of Muhammad Ali to what Tiger Woods is facing? Seriously? That may be the dumbest thing I?ve ever read (And I?ve proof-read a bunch of my own stuff)…So how much impact does Anquan Boldin bring to the Baltimore Ravens? He?s a quality wide receiver and all, but does he stretch the field? Or is that Dont? Stallworth?s job?…Does Julius Pepper bring the bite back to the Chicago Bear defense?…I thought the past season of ?High School Reunion? on TV Land was excellent. Yeah, I watch it, so what?!…I really hope it doesn?t rain today on my way to Agua Caliente…Any questions or comments can be sent to me at [email protected] and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can now find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
