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Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
July 7, 2007
“Nonito Donaire KO’s Darchinyan In Five”
7-7-7 didn’t turn out to be lucky numbers for Vic Darchinyan
(28-1,22 KO’s) Saturday night in Connecticut, where he defended
his title against Nonito Donaire, the brother of a former beaten
Darchinyan opponent, Glenn Donaire.
Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (18-1, 11 KO’s) had superior
boxing skills and used his jab to keep Vic out of range and
ineffective. Donaire repeatedly landed counter punches that were
clean and hurting Darchinyan, who didn’t appear very strong
against the bigger Donaire.
I thought Donaire was winning every round as he easily out-boxed
Darchinyan consistently, landing clean counter shots when the
reckless Vic came forward. Darchinyan looked amateurish as he
missed most of his punches and could never land anything that
would force Donaire to change what he was doing, which was
simple boxing. Donaire used his jab, to control the ring and
Darchinyan, who rarely landed anything.
By the fifth round, Donaire had Darchinyan so figured out that
he patiently countered a two handed attack with a staggering
left hook straight into Vic’s cheek and nose area, that dropped
him to the canvas. Vic struggled to get up but only managed to
ramble into the ropes and was consequently waved out by the
referee.
Darchinyan appeared to be badly hurt and the ring filled with
medics until finally, Vic got up and cleared the cobwebs with a
stroll around the ring, escorted by someone from his camp. As
his marbles settled, he couldn’t believe what just happened. He
lost his first fight.
This was a check in the mail for Vic Darchinyan, who for all the
excitement he brings, fights sloppily, throws bomb after bomb
and is very often open to the marksmanship of any good boxer who
can keep his cool under the pressure. Nonito Donaire proved to
be up to that task Saturday night.
Donaire’s record suggests that he was there to lose. His last
five opponents had records of 5-9, 35-24, 5-6, 13-2 and 35-6. He
was accustomed to facing bigger men than Darchinyan and his
boxing skills proved the deciding factor against the rugged, yet
undisciplined Vic Darchinyan.
During the post fight interviews, Donaire was floating on a
cloud. He was humble and nervously excited. He credited Vic for
being a great fighter. And repeatedly mentioned his pride of
winning a fight that his fellow Filipino fans didn’t expect him
to win.
Darchinyan was not pleased. He said he wasn’t hurt. He said he
wanted a rematch, he asked Donaire for a rematch, Donaire
deferred to his management (Gary Shaw) on that question.
This loss could be a blessing in disguise for Vic Darchinyan if
he takes advantage of the lessons he should learn from this. He
must improve his technical skills on defense and try to be more
adept at using his jab to set things up instead of rushing in
wildly…even though, that is what makes him so exciting to watch.
This loss can make him a better fighter. I look forward to
seeing how he comes to fight next time up.
As for Donaire, he’s a Champ now. This is a dream come true for
all young fighters. If he keeps using what works, he may be
around for a long time. He showed a lot of calm and poise that
enabled him to execute the perfect game plan against a big
puncher with an unorthodox style. Congratulations Nonito
Donaire!
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Comments can be emailed to Sharkie
7-07-2007 |
