Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
February 7th,
2009
“Darchinyan Wins by
TKO 11 over Arce”
Saturday
night in
Anaheim, California, WBA/WBC/IBF
Super Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KO’s) displayed his newest
incarnation; Darchinyan the ambidextrous power boxer, who uses more than just
his left to make his mark. What many expected to be an all out slugfest, was
still a slugfest, but only at intervals and initiated mostly by his opponent,
former champ, Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KO’s), who after losing the first couple of
rounds by being out-boxed from outside, decided to storm the castle and bring
the fight inside to where his wild winging ways would hopefully work wonders.
Since losing
to Filipino Nonito Donaire in 2007, Armenian Darchinyan has refined his style a
bit. Anyone who’s seen his last couple of fights can tell that his loss to
Donaire made him a better fighter. He keeps his hands up higher for tighter
defense, has better mobility and rhythm when he gets into his groove. Darchinyan
has gone back to the basics, style-wise and discovered a better way of
delivering his power punches from all angles, to better effect. Darchinyan
boxed really well Saturday night, making easy work of Arce from outside. He set
things up with jabs and then darted in and out to strike with power punches that
took their toll on Arce’s stamina and face.
The most
exciting rounds of this fight were the close rounds, from three through five.
That was when Arce, after losing the first two, discovered that if he followed
his corner’s advice and took the fight to the inside, he could score some good
shots and have a better chance to win. It worked for a while too. After Arce
suffered a cut at the end of the first round, he returned the favor in the
third, when he rallied in close and caused a cut near Darchinyan’s
right eye.
That kept
the fight competitive for a bit but after the fifth round, it was all
Darchinyan, who administered a beating to Jorge Arce that saw him bloodied,
battered and at times looking ready to fall. With all the punishment Arce was
absorbing, his fatigue faded considerably by the end of the seventh, which I
scored 10-8 for Darchinyan since it was such a beat down and I don’t know how
Arce stayed on his feet. There were a few rounds that could’ve been scored 10-8
but the seventh for sure. As Arce’s stamina faded, Darchinyan was still bouncing
and with a three quarters full gas tank. It was all Darchinyan and getting
uglier by the minute.
By the end
of the eleventh round. Arce’s eye was cut badly, his face was like pulp. He had
nothing left and was in effect, saved by the bell that ended the eleventh round.
The ringside
doctor and Arce’s corner agreed to stop it and Jorge Arce did not come out for
round 12. Vic Darchinyan had won by TKO 11.
Surely
Darchinyan wanted to win by KO but he didn’t seem too upset about that during
the post fight interview, where Darchinyan was surprisingly gracious, and seemed
to compliment Arce for his toughness, saying he landed big shots but Arce took
them, and congratulated Arce for that. It looked like all his “hate” for Arce
had morphed into respect for a guy who came to fight and showed he could take a
punch. Vic even offered that he took some shots too, “…just look at my face.”
Vic went on to say that he said he was going to punish Arce and he did. As for
the knockout, he said anyone could see after the eleventh round Arce was ready
to go down and he would have made it happen in the twelfth. He also said he was
happy with his performance and he got the knockout anyway because of the cuts.
Asked about
Arce’s comments prior to the fight saying that Darchinyan’s just a “one-handed
fighter” Darchinyan reminded that he threw a lot of right hooks. Darchinyan is a
much improved fighter these days and his liberal use of right hooks is a serious
compliment to his already dangerous offense.
Arce wasn’t
as generous during his interview, where when asked what happened, said that
Darchinyan’s elbows caused a cut on the back of his head that bled throughout
the later portion of the bout and that disrupted him. When pressed about his
comment, Arce did credit Darchinyan as a good, strong fighter. Arce did complain
that Darchinyan used his elbows often. (I didn’t notice that) Arce also said he
didn’t agree with the stoppage. He said he was still conscious and able to
continue and that he still had a punchers chance. Arce also indicated interest
in a rematch.
I can’t
imagine Gary Shaw (Vic’s promoter), would give Arce a rematch, not with so many
other big fish out there to fry. Shaw even discounted the notion of a rematch
against Nonito Donaire, the only guy who beat Darchinyan, alluding to some ‘lack
of loyalty’ on Donaire’s part.
Though a
rematch with Donaire would help cement Vic’s legacy in the future, there really
are several really exciting match ups out there that Shaw expressed interest in
creating, like moving up to 122 to take on the likes of Israel Vazquez or Rafael
Marquez. Either of those sound like fight of the year quality fights.
I’d like to
see Vic take on the slick boxer with the sneaky power, Fernando Montiel (38-2-1,
28 KO’s), the WBO titlist in Vic’s current division and the owner of the only
other major title in the division. The winner of that fight would be the
WBC/WBA/WBO/IBF Undisputed Champion of the division.
Congratulations to Vic Darchinyan for a great performance and for showing good
sportsmanship in the end, instead of arrogance. Kudos also to Jorge Arce, who in
the toughest fight of his life, gave his best effort and never showed any sign
of wanting to quit where other fighters would have crumbled. Arce took a lot of
big shots from Vic, like no one I’ve seen so far and never went down. Arce’s one
tough hombre and I look forward to seeing his next fight. If he really wants
that rematch with Vic, maybe HE should go after Montiel. If he were to beat the
very good Montiel, he’d at least be bringing a title to sweeten
the deal should Shaw consider it.
* * *
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be sent to Frank Gonzalez Jr.
