Vic Darchinyan might be one of the hardest pound-for-pound punchers in the sport. As a flyweight and super flyweight (112 and 115 pounds), he racked up an impressive twenty-eight knockouts in his thirty-four wins (Darchinyan has 35 total wins, one coming by way of decision at bantamweight in May). In some fights, his opponents? fear and apprehension was apparent, as they were constantly on the defensive, leery of eating one of Darchinyan?s looping left hands. In 2007, Darchinyan defeated Victor Burgos via twelfth round TKO. After the fight, Burgos collapsed in his corner and left the arena on a stretcher, and was taken to a hospital for surgery to remove a brain clot and relieve swelling on his brain. Burgos survived the surgery, but has since retired from the sport. Darchinyan?s power is evident. He battered Christian Mijares and Jorge Arce in back-to-back fights in 2008 and 2009.
However, In Darchinyan?s first fight as a bantamweight (118 pounds), his punches had little-to-no affect on Joseph ?King Kong? Agbeko. Darchinyan was outmuscled and outworked, losing a close twelve-round decision. Following his loss to Agbeko, Darchinyan went back to super flyweight and knocked out tough veteran Tomas Rojas in December of 2009, and out boxed young Rodrigo Guerrero in March of this year.
Darchinyan has made his chase of Nonito Donaire a public spectacle, but for reasons that vary (depending if the reason is coming from Gary Shaw or Bob Arum), Darchinyan?s move up to bantamweight may have been as a result of Donaire?s announcement that he would eventually move up in weight. Darchinyan hoped he would get the opportunity to exact his revenge on ?The Filipino Flash? in the upcoming bantamweight tournament, but Top Rank inexplicably held Donaire and Fernando Montiel out of the tournament.
Darchinyan?s next fight as a bantamweight will be against rising Mexican star Abner Mares (20-0-1, 13 KO). At a press conference in Los Angeles on September 30, 2010, Darchinyan promised a knockout over Mares. He went so far as to ask that the referee, all three judges, and the timekeeper be of Mexican descent.
?I am going for a knockout,? Darchinyan told the media at the Congo Room at L.A. Live yesterday.
?I want to tell you how confident I am in Vic Darchinyan,” Gary Shaw stated. ?I said `I believe it so much I called up [WBC president] Jose Sulaiman and we are going to have a Mexican referee, three Mexican judges, a Mexican time keeper and I know you’ll win’.?
Abner Mares smiled after hearing Shaw?s statement. ?Thank you. I guess that?s my Christmas present,? Mares replied.
Mares has fought his entire career at bantamweight, with the exception of his first few fights as a super bantamweight. His last fight, a grueling draw against IBF bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez, showed that Mares can take the punch of a big, strong bantamweight. While Mares showed he still has a little to learn when presented with a face-first brawler, his fight with Perez showed a lot of promise. When Mares wasn?t forced to brawl he was able to circle around Perez and catch him with hard shots coming in.
Darchinyan was knocked silly by Nonito Donaire in 2007, in a fight in which his flaws were exposed and he was largely ineffective. Darchinyan spent most of that fight looking for one punch to finish Donaire, only to find a check hook that put him flat on his back. With Mares? versatility, it isn?t out of the question to see a repeat of the outcome of Darchinyan?s fight with Donaire.
It is entirely possible that Darchinyan could catch Mares sleeping and land a punch to flip the switch on him, but it seems that Mares? versatility will allow him to borrow from Donaire?s winning game plan. Most of Darchinyan?s success has come against fighters that were intimidated and beaten before entering the ring, or against straight forward plodding brawlers in the flyweight and super flyweight divisions. As previously stated, Darchinyan was unable to hurt Agbeko last July, and was unable to knockout Eric Barcelona in a tune-up bout in May, both opponents were bantamweights. I see Darchinyan?s power maxed out at super flyweight, and less effective at bantamweight. Unless he is able to confuse and outbox the younger Mares, I find it hard to see a knockout win for Darchinyan.
