Ferocious Vic Darchinyan practically chased Yonnhy Perez out of the ring last light at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, earning a technical decision after five rounds when Perez was unable to continue due to a cut suffered by a headbutt.
The fight was the consolation bout for the Showtime bantamweight mini-tournament recently thrown into chaos when Joseph Agbeko was forced to withdraw from the finals against Abner Mares because of injury.
But the fight was no consolation for Perez, 117 3/4, who was hammered with zeal by Darchinyan. Within a round it became obvious that Perez would not be able to keep up with Darchinyan, whose tearing style?combined with enough tricks to fill an Acme Party Favor Catalog?left him looking like a man whose birth certificate should be produced and carefully examined. Perez has now looked jaded over the last 22 rounds of his career, and, despite having less than two dozen fights, he seems to have hit the wall as a pro. Perez was shaken repeatedly by a fighter who has had difficulty hurting bantamweights in the past, and had trouble putting together punches in sequence. His defense last night was also non-existent.
In a ring that appeared to be the size of a Target bath mat, Darchinyan, also 117 3/4, took command early and laid it on Perez from bell to bell. Rings are a standard 20? in Las Vegas, but, apparently, you only need to drive a few hours west to find one that measures 17?. Perez did himself no favors by moving to his right and into the path of straight (as well as overhand) lefts all night long. Indeed, Darchinyan, Sydney, Australia via Armenia, landed blows from portside that no professional fighter should be hit with at any time. Looping shots, lead lefts, and punches thrown when out of position shook Perez again and again. Even lead uppercuts bounced off of his jaw.
In fact, it was an uppercut that dropped Perez early in the second, and a follow-up barrage left Perez reeling drunkenly for the remainder of the round. In the third, Perez, Santa Fe Springs, California via Colombia, began to open up, stopping Darchinyan in his tracks with a straight right and doubling up his left hook from time to time, but Perez lacked accuracy and, more importantly, failed to use his jab.
By the fourth, Darchinyan assumed command again, trading shots with Perez and getting the best of the exchanges. He also found plenty of time for some of his sideshow tricks, and, unfortunately for those who admire world-class professional boxing, Perez fell for many of them over and over. How, for example, did Darchinyan get away with sticking out his right arm like a man reaching for a book on a shelf and still hit Perez with his left? Perhaps only The Shadow knows. But the fact is Perez, who slips to 20-2-1, appeared completely ill-prepared to face Darchinyan and paid a heavy price for his cavalier approach.
By the time a headbutt opened a gushing wound above his brow in the fifth round, Perez seemed futilely behind on points, and appeared to yield as the blood pumped out. When referee Jerry Cantu asked Perez if he wanted to continue, Perez seemed unwilling to do so. Cantu called in the ringside physician, who promptly halted the fight. Unless one of the judges at ringside was Dan Rafael, the scorecards were a mere formality and were ultimately announced as a clean sweep 50-44 across the board for Darchinyan.
With the win, Darchinyan, now 36-3-1, bounces back from a tough loss to Abner Mares last December and may now be in line to face the winner of the postponed Agbeko-Mares bout. Against Perez, he showed no lack of confidence, was aggressive from start to finish, and made his own openings by feinting and throwing combinations. He also worked the body effectively and forced a quicker pace than he usually does. Darchinyan, 35, showed he is still some kind of force to be reckoned with in the lower weight classes and, to his credit, he showed it while practically foaming at the mouth.
*****
1940s California matinee idol Pat Valentino, product of an abusive childhood, never thought he would amount to anything, and the tough breaks he got in life were mirrored in his hard luck boxing career. When he finally got a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world, it cost him more than anyone would have imagined possible. Read A Second Life: The Career of Pat Valentino.
