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Darchinyan Desperately Seeking Challenges
By Doug Fischer (March 2, 2007)

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There are fighters who exude confidence because they’ve never tasted defeat or experienced adversity, and then there are fighters who are that way because they have proven themselves over and over again in the ring.

Vic Darchinyan, the powerful flyweight world titlist who will attempt to defend his IBF belt for the sixth time against Victor Burgos in the co-feature to tomorrow night’s Showtime-televised main event of Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez, is ultra-confident, perhaps even cocky, because of both reasons.

The Australia-based Armenian ring terror is undefeated, but not because he hasn’t been in the ring with solid opposition. In his 27 pro fights, he’s faced his share of prospects, contenders and grizzled vets, and he’s beat them all, 21 by knockout, but he’s never been challenged, and he wants to be – bad.

He claims that he’s never been knocked down or even hurt in a fight and that includes 320 amateur bouts (170 of which were international competitions).

“Well, once in the amateurs a guy pushed me after a swing and I went down,” Darchinyan, an Armenian representative for the 2000 Olympic Games, told MaxBoxing. “The referee counted it as a knockdown. Ten seconds later I knocked the guy out because I was so angry.”

Darchinyan still fights with anger, hence his nickname Raging Bull. He first burst into the awareness of fight fans outside of Armenia and Australia when he stopped longtime Colombian title holder Irene Pacheco, then 30-0, in the 11th round of a good scrap that took place in Hollywood, Florida, December of 2004. Pacheco was a giant flyweight, standing almost 5-foot-8, with considerable strength and power. However, the Colombian vet, who had made six title defenses and hasn’t lost since, eventually wilted under Darchinyan’s relentless, unorthodox attack.

Since then, the 31-year-old flyweight has defended the title five times, including a six-round technical decision victory over Glen Donaire in his last bout that still burns him up. Darchinyan, who dropped Donaire in the fourth round and was battering the quick-fisted Filipino until his foe claimed that a headbutt prevented him from continuing, feels that he was robbed of a knockout.

“I was very disappointed in that last fight,” Darchinyan said at an open workout held Tuesday in Los Angeles (about a half-our drive from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California where tomorrow night’s fight will take place). “I want to show the crowd a good fight, but these guys don’t want to give me one.”

Darchinyan has been told that Burgos, a hardnosed former title-holder from Mexico who is known for being a rugged, forward-marching brawler, will give him a good fight. He’s doesn’t believe it.

“Let’s talk after the fight,” Darchinyan told MaxBoxing at the Pound-For-Pound Gym. “You say this guy is tough, but you don’t know what it’s like to fight me. After I hit him, he’s not going to stay with me.”

The intensity in Darchinyan’s eyes as he said this was palpable, and more than a little bit intimidating.

Darchinyan is one of these card-carrying bad-ass little dudes. He’s the kind of guy that even men who know how to fight and may out-weigh him by as much as 100 pounds KNOW not to piss off. Common sense tells you not to mess around with him.

The handlers of another card-carrying bad-ass little dude, Jogre Arce, have plenty of common sense when it comes to putting their fighter, a proven ticket seller and ratings getter, in the ring with Darchinyan.

Arce, a former 108-pound titlist who made a 13-month pit stop at flyweight before jumping to the 115-pound division late last year, is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and managed by influential Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran. Neither Arum nor Beltran have been eager to even discuss making a hardcore fight fan’s dream match by putting the two macho mighty mites in the ring together and this business decision has Darchinyan looking to weight classes higher than 115 pounds in search of a challenge.

“I am tired of waiting for Arce and the other flyweight champions to fight me,” Darchinyan said. “After I beat Burgos, I will challenge with winner of Vazquez-Marquez. I will go to featherweight if I have to. Give me Manny Pacquiao!”

He’s not joking around when he calls out the likes of the Filipino icon, and he’s not doing it for the money involved in such fights. Darchinyan really wants a challenge.

“If there’s someone better than me out there, I want to know,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can beat me. If there are fighters out there who think they can beat me then I challenge them. I challenge them all. Flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF, it does not matter. You think you are better than me? Fight me. Beat me.”

Darchinyan’s trainer Billy Hussein says that the unorthodox southpaw regularly spars with fighters as heavy as welterweight. His main sparring partner at Hussein’s Body Punch Boxing Gym in the Lidcombe suburb of Sydney is 140-pound title holder Lovemore Ndou, an ultra-tough Australia-based South African who gave former titlist Sharmba Mitchell and current titlists Junior Witter and Miguel Cotto hell in 12-round fights before winning the IBF belt recently.

Hussein says his fighter has given up on fighting Arce, but he still thinks that suitable challenges and marketable fights can be made with former titlist Martin Castillo and current WBO belt-holder Fernando Montiel.

“He just wants to fight good fighters and collect title belts,” said Hussein.

Darchinyan’s promoter, Gary Shaw, who also promotes Marquez and newly crowned WBC light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson, says that if boxing had more fighters like the IBF flyweight champ it wouldn’t be in the sad state it is in now.

“He’s good for the sport,” Shaw said Tuesday. “He’s never going to turn a fight down, he’s never going to say no to a good fight. He wants the best out there, right now. He’s not asking for tune-up fights.

“If the top fighters in the sport keep putting off the big fights, fighting tune-ups and interim fights, they won’t have a place to fight because the sport will be gone. The only place they’ll e able to fight is in a cage match.

“To their credit, Vic, Rafael, and Chad only want big fights.”

Shaw hasn’t given up on what could be the biggest 115-pound bout in ages, perhaps ever.

“I disagree that an Arce-Darchinyan bout can’t be made,” he said. “I believe in the power of the media. The media can make it happen. You guys and the fans have to demand the fights you want to see. Most of these top fighters have big egos. They believe that they’re there for a reason. If they read that they are ducking someone, they don’t like that. They don’t like that negative stuff, especially when they know that stuff is right.

“I don’t think Arce would duck anyone. I believe he’s a true Mexican fighter, a star in his country, and he’ll take a fight with anyone. What’s keeping the fight from happening is the promoters, the managers, the matchmakers.

“I talked to Arum about the fight and at first he said ‘Darchinyan? Forget about him.’ I went back to him and pitched it again and he told me ‘Well, settle the lawsuit and we can talk’.”

Shaw is suing Arum and Top Rank fighter Jose Luis Castillo for the fighter not making the contracted weight for the anticipated rubbermatch with his fighter Diego Corrales last June, which resulted in the fight being cancelled.

“If the [Arce-Darchinyan] fight is up to me and Arum and [Top Rank matchmaker] Bruce Trampler, it won’t happen. But Arce-Darchinyan is a great fight. It’s a great fight for boxing.

“Fans should demand it.”

As soon as Darchinyan’s hand is raised in victory tomorrow night, let’s start banging the drums.