Darchinyan retains titles, stops Arce in 11

WBC-WBA-IBF Junior Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan successfully defended his titles and moved closer to a place among the top pound for pound fighters in the World with an 11th round stoppage over former Junior Flyweight Champion and pound for pound contender Jorge Arce. The fight was stopped after 11 rounds due to cuts on Arce’s eyes. After Darchinyan took control of the fight in the first two rounds, Arce responded by hurting the champion in the 3rd round. Darchinyan fired back and the 3rd and 4th rounds were full of action as Arce hurt Darchinyan only to be hurt back by the champions feared punching power.

After rocking Arce with an uppercut in the 4th, the fight became one way traffic as Arce tried valiantly to get back into the fight but was simply outmatched. Darchinyan mixed up the set ups for his combinations, sometimes circling and sometimes stalking the Mexican but always landing with hard power. Although Arce had success with his left hook, he didn’t have any answer for ‘The Raging Bull’s’ firepower. The end came after another cut (which looked to be caused by Arce’s head colliding with the ropes) forced the doctor to stop the fight after the 11th round.

While the fight was good, it didn’t live up to the hype us hardcore fans were giving it over the years. I think this had a lot to do with Arce not being able to wage the war he wanted because he was outgunned by Darchinyans power. Vic had a huge size advantage and his frame would probably suit even 122lbs whereas Arce is really at the highest weight he can be world class in. Darchinyan looked good and now that he’s added some more technique to his overpowering style it will take a strong effort to end his reign. The only marks on his career come at the hands of Z Gorres and Nonito Donaire. I’d be heading wherever I had to to see Vic fight either of those guys (or any live opponent) should it take place in Australia. Forget Mundine and all his crap, Darchinyan is the face of Australian boxing even if the moronic Australian sports media don’t give him much attention.

Boxing Breakdown: Vic Darchinyan vs Jorge Arce

With three of the four recognised world titles on the line and two of the most exciting fighters in boxing today fighting each other for them, you’d be a fool to miss tomorrow’s clash between WBC/WBA/IBF Junior Bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan and former World Junior Flyweight Champion Jorge Arce. Darchinyan has been after this fight for years and until his victory over Cristian Mijares in which he unified the titles his attempts to call out Arce have fallen on deaf ears. After Darchinyan battered the last man to defeat ‘Travieso’, Arce really had no one else he could target. Having won his last five bouts (including the WBA interim title) since Mijares thoroughly outboxed him over 12 rounds for the WBC Junior bantamweight title, Arce is one of a long line of contenders for Darchinyans crown.

This fight isn’t going to be one for the purests. Arce’s style involves imposing his will on his opponents with his above average boxing skills and incredible strength and toughness as well as an almost unmatched will to win. Darchinyan tries to line his opponents up and then unleashes machine gun style barrages of some of the hardest punches ever seen in the lower weight classes in boxing history. Both guys like to fight going forward and have shown weaknesses when forced to back up in the past so this fight could very well boil down to one man forcing the other on the back foot. Neither guy has much in the way of defence which could prove disastrous considering how hard each man hits.

While I think Arce may have the better technique, I think any slight advantage he has there is overshadowed by Darchinyan’s awkward style and punching power. Arce is going to do what the only man to beat ‘The Raging Bull’ did when Nonito Donaire frustrated Darchinyan with slick skills and movement before ending matters in the 5th round with a counter left hook and if he tries to he’s going to make it an easy nights work for Darchinyan. Arce himself has big punching power with 39 of his 51 wins ending inside the distance however his power is the more the type of a Julio Cesar Chavez in that he breaks his opponents down with body shots and usually overwhelms them with numerous shots.

The big advantage in this fight gots to Darchinyan in the strength department and this is where I think the fight will be won. Darchinyan is a big fighter in this weight classes and his frame is almost that of a 122-126lb fighter rather then a 115lb fighter. Arce has come up in weight and often looks the smaller man in the ring. With both guys preference to fight on the front foot, Darchinyan’s physical strength will play a big factor. He shouldn’t have much trouble pushing Arce away in close quarters to make room for the avalanche of punches he delivers. Arce is going to have to avoid fighting up close with Darchinyan for long periods of time, especially as the fight wears on.

Prediction
I’m backing the champion in this fight and I think he’ll win it by knockout. Arce definately has a chance and with Darchinyans sometimes reckless style he could very well put Darchinyan out with a single shot should the oppurtunity present itself. However, the styles match up too well for Darchinyan. Arce will be right in front of Darchinyan a lot of the time and thats the last place you want to be against someone with the power and ferocity of Darchinyan. Vic is one of a rare breed of boxer that you just can’t trade punches with in any small doses because of his firepower.

I think the fight will be explosive for the first three or four rounds but after that Darchinyan will take over big time and his punches will begin to take their toll on Arce. Around the middle rounds Darchinyan should put Arce away. The longer this fight goes the worse Arce’s chances are in my opinion unless he finds a way to neutralise Darchinyan’s power but with his lack of defence I think he’ll find himself on the end of a few too many of Darchinyans barrages and they’ll break him apart. Vic Darchinyan by 7th round knockout.

Other Fights on this Weekend

In the hopes of bettering my picking record for this year (or completely fucking it up), here’s some picks for some of the lesser boxing matches that are on this weekend. Apart from the big 115lb title clash between Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce, there’s a handful of other good fights on this weekend in different parts of the world.

Ruslan Chagaev vs Carl Drummond
(WBA Heavyweight title)
Prediction- Chagaev on points
Drummond is a bit of a mystery man but with his record (26-0) and Chagaev’s inactivity it’s hard to pick against him at 9-1. Now I don’t normally put a lot into records especially when the guys fought the regular Joes like Drummond has, but if the guy can punch like his record suggests then he may catch Chagaev, this is the heavyweights afterall. However, at even money you can’t pick against the more proven Chagaev. Drummond might do well early but once Chagaev finds his range he’ll take the less experienced fighter to school.

Andreas Kotelnik vs Rene Maidana
(WBA Junior Welterweight title)
Prediction- Kotelnik on points
This fight follows the same theme of the last fight, except Maidana is a more proven opponent and Kotelnik has been in the ring on a regular basis of late. I don’t know much of Maidana’s skills however he can punch hard (his record stands at 25-0 with 24 KOs) and with good odds a wager on Maidana by knockout is certainly a good one. Kotelnik though is a very skilled boxer as he has shown on a few occasions over the last few years including his ‘loss’ to Junior Witter a few years ago. I think Kotelnik will win a pretty lopsided decision in this contest and may even stop Maidana should it turn out his record overrates his skills.

Omar Narvaez vs Rayonte Whitfield
(WBO Flyweight title)
Prediction- Narvaez on points
This fights 50-50 for me and while I am leaning towards Whitfield, I think he’ll have to win pretty clear cut in order to take the title. Narvaez is one of the longest reigning titlists in the sport and is a pround champion so he definately won’t go down to Whitfield without a fight. I think it’ll be a close fight, but I’m picking Narvaez mainly because of the hometown advantage in this fight. Whitfield doesn’t have devastating power and while he has the skills to take Narvaez out, I think he’ll need to hurt the Argentinian if he is to win as clearly as he’ll beed to to get a decision.

2009 looking good for Boxing fans

A number of good fights are currently in negotiations for later in 2009 to add to the already impressive lineup of quality boxing matches we’ve got on so far this year. Pound for Pound king Manny Pacquiao will indeed face Ricky Hatton for the Brit’s legitimate claim to being the World Champion at the Junior Welterweight limit. The fight will take place on May 2nd in Las Vegas after earlier talks of the fight taking place in Dubai were squashed. It really would have been interesting to see what sort of an appearance Hatton’s fans would have made if they had to travel to Dubai.

Another quality fight that is in the works is the return of former undisputed Junior Middleweight Champion Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright who will return to the ring for the first time since July 2007 to face pound for pound ranked fighter and current WBO interim Junior Middleweight Champion Paul Williams. The fight is set to take place on April 11th at the Middleweight limit. Wright really has his work cut out for him facing someone as dangerous as Williams in his first fight for nearly two years but with his impregnable defence he could frustrate Williams and outbox him if he can fight near his best.

The other good fight I’m hearing about is Kendall Holt vs Timothey Bradley for the WBC and WBO Junior Welterweight titles. This is a great fight between two youngish fighters and will likely determine who the next legitimate challenger is for Ricky Hatton (that’s if Hatton gets by Pacquiao). This fight is currently set to take place in April, probably the 4th although I haven’t heard whether or not this fight has been officially signed. All three of these fights are quality matchups, and so far the boxing lineup looks good through til early May with quality fights happening every other weekend:

17th January- Andre Berto vs Luis Collazo (WBC 147lbs)
24th January- Antonio Margarito vs Shane Mosley (WBA 147lbs)
7th February- Vic Darchinyan vs Jorge Arce (WBA-WBC-IBF 115lbs)
14th February- Nate Campbell vs Ali Funeka (WBA-IBF-WBO 135lbs)
21st February- Pavlik v Rubio/Cotto v Jennings (Ring 160lbs/WBO 147lbs)
28th February- Juan Diaz vs Juan Manuel Marquez (Ring 135lbs)
14th March- Chad Dawson vs Antonio Tarver (okay, not all of them are good)
15th March- Fernando Montiel vs Nonito Donaire (WBO 115lbs)
4th April- Timothey Bradley vs Kendall Holt (WBC-WBO 140lbs)
11th April- Paul Williams vs Winky Wright
2nd May- Ricky Hatton vs Manny Pacquiao (Ring 140lbs)

So basically there’s boxing every week from January 17th right through until March 15th minus two weekends (Jan 31st and March 7th). The good thing about those two weekends is that there’s UFC PPV cards on those dates and one of those weekends is BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre. Throw in the odd K-1 event and DREAM card plus the odd not so major boxing match and I might have to change my name to Aroused Fight Fan.

Darchinyan destroys Mijares in Unification Clash

IBF 115lb championVic Darchinyan scored a one sided 9th round knockout over WBC/WBA 115lb champion Cristian Mijares to unify most of the divisions titles. The fight marked the first time that those three belts had been unified in the 28 year history of the Junior Bantamweight Division. Mijares stood as a 3-1 favourite according to TAB sportsbet in Australia and was ranked in the top ten inRing Magazine’s Pound for Pound rankings. However he was left to look like just another opponent for Darchinyan, who didn’t look like losing the fight at any stage.

After a cautious start by both boxers, Darchinyan dropped Mijares in the closing moments of the first round with a brutal left uppercut that had the Mexican struggling to beat the count. From there it was all one way traffic as Darchinyan repeatedly beat Mijares to the punch throughout the fight. Mijares couldn’t read Darchinyan’s awkward style and was unable to get going throughout the bout and very rarely landed with any significant punches. Darchinyan, who represented Armenia at the 2000 Olympics before relocating to Australia, couldn’t miss with his left hand and landed with frequent combinations throughout the contest. With Mijares looking weary in the second half of the bout, Darchinyan closed the show in style; dropping Mijares with a crushing overhand left at the end of the ninth round. Referee Lou Moret waved the fight off as Mijares was in no shape to continue.

With the victory Darchinyan sits on top of a very talented Junior Bantamweight division and makes a very strong arguement for a spot in the pound for pound top 10. There are a few good matchups that could be made that would be very entertaining. Number one is a match to bring together all four belts with WBO champion Fernando Montiel. Mijares-Montiel is the fight I wanted to see before Vic did a number on him and now this fight makes sense. Hell, Vic has even called him out already. The second matchup that could be made is a rematch with Nonito Donaire. Donaire fought on the weekend and won by knockout and if he were to come up in weight I’m sure its a fight Vic would be more then happy to take. I also think Vic would knock Donaire out in a rematch as I don’t think the version of Darchinyan that Donaire fought is anything like the last two versions of Vic that we’ve seen. The third and maybe most entertaining matchup is Jorge Arce. Darchinyan wanted Arce for a long time until Mijares clowned him. This fight could still be made and it would be a blockbuster as both guys like to throw hard punches. It would be a war while it lasted.

One more thing I’d like to mention about this fight is that I’m absolutely disgusted by the lack of mainstream media attention this fight was given. I watched the sports section on three of Australia’s early morning news shows the day after and not one of them mentioned that an Australian had just won such a big boxing match. Yet everytime something like the Mayweather-Judah in ring brawl happens or a fighter dies in boxing its headline news. Not only did they not mention this fight, they talked about foreign athletes winning World championships in different sports yet completely ignore one of our own. How the hell is boxing ever going to get anywhere in this country when mainstream media covers it in such a biased way?