Vic Darchinyan

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Vic "Raging Bull" Darchinyan

Statistics
Real name	Vakhtang Darchinyan
Nickname(s)	Raging Bull
Rated at	Super flyweight
Height	5 ft. 5½ in. (166 cm.)
Nationality	Armenian Australian
Birth date	7 January 1976 (1976-01-07) (age 34)
Birth place	Vanadzor, Armenia
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	35
Wins	33
Wins by KO	27
Losses	2
Draws	1
No contests	0

Vakhtang Darchinyan (Armenian: Վախթանգ Դարչինյան; born 7 January 1976 in Vanadzor, Armenia) is a professional boxer who is the current WBA, WBC unified Super Flyweight World Champion. Darchinyan was also formerly the IBF and IBO champion of the flyweight division and briefly reigned as the IBO's super flyweight champion also. He is a southpaw boxer, who currently trains under Billy Hussein, brother of boxers Nedal and Hussein Hussein. Previously, he was trained by former 3-division world champion, Jeff Fenech in Sydney.

Amateur career

Darchinyan's amateur career was 158-18 record with 105 knockouts,^[1] fighting in many different countries , as he participated for Armenia in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He went to the third round in the 112 lb division before losing against Bulat Jumadilov of Kazakhstan. Darchinyan moved to Australia after competing in the Olympics, eventually became an Australian citizen on 7 July 2004. Darchinyan turned pro at age 24 on 3 November 2000.

Olympic Results

• Defeated opponent
• Defeated Ilfat Ryazapov (Russia) 20-11
• Lost to Bulat Jumadilov (Kazakhstan) 8-15

Pro career

He won his IBF title on 16 December 2004, in his first fight in the United States, beating respected champion Irene Pacheco of Colombia, via 11 round technical knock-out. He has made six successful defenses of the title winning all by stoppage.

In his third title defense, he displayed his power by knocking out Filipino challenger Diosdado Gabi with a single straight left. In his last two fights he broke Glenn Donaire's jaw and knocked out Victor Burgos in the 12th round, who later underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Darchinyan returned 3 months later and won the vacant IBO super flyweight title, stopping Filipino veteran Federico Catubay. Vic decided to outbox and outpunch his larger opponent and finally finished him off in round 12. He voluntarily relinquished the IBO title prior to fighting in an IBF eliminator. Later Glenn Donaire's brother and future pound for pound star Nonito Donaire knocked out Darchinyan. Darchinyan was floored in shocked and couldn't stand on his two legs until the referee stop the fight. A 7-1 underdog, Donaire won the IBF flyweight title with a 5th round knockout of the then-undefeated Vic Darchinyan on July 7, 2007

Controversial draw with Gorres

On 2 February 2008, Darchinyan fought Z Gorres to a controversial split draw at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines in an IBF super flyweight eliminator where the winner would challenge the champion Dimitri Kirilov. The bout began with a knockdown for Darchinyan in the first round, which appeared to be slip by Gorres when replayed. The crowd was upset with the referee calling the slip a knockdown and began to pelt the ring with bottles water, coins and other objects. Gorres came back in the second round to floor Darchinyan with a left hand, but Darchinyan beat the count, which again prompted some arena fans to pelt the ring with objects. Gorres was knocked down in the fifth round, but the referee ruled it a slip. A clash of heads in the sixth round opened up a bad gash on Gorres. In the ninth round, Darchinyan connected with a right hand, sending Gorres down for the second time in the fight. Gorres would fall to the canvas on at least three other occasions in the final three rounds, with the referee ruling all of them slips. The final scores were 113-112 for Gorres, 114-112 for Darchinyan, and 113-113 for the draw.^[2] Darchinyan's promoter, Gary Shaw, will file an official protest with the IBF over the officiating of the bout.^[3]

Despite the draw, Darchinyan earned the right to take on Kirilov for being higher in the ratings and willing to accept the fight.

2nd World Title

6 months later, Vic was back in what most experts called a career-best performance, Vic took on IBF Junior Bantamweight champion Dimitri Kirilov at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma Washington. Vic dominated from the opening bell and showed improvement in speed and boxing skills, as he eventually caught Kirilov in round 5. dropping him twice enroute to a round 5 KO. Vic was ahead 40-36 on all 3 judge's scorecards.

Super Flyweight Unification

On November 1, 2008, Darchinyan fought WBC and WBA super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Darchinyan was the aggressor from the outset, getting inside with big punches including a left uppercut that knocked Mijares down in the first round. With his unorthodox crouching style, Darchinyan seemed to confuse Mijares, who was often content to counterpunch rather than attack.^[4] Mijares connected with just one combination the entire fight, that during a brief span of the fifth round. Darchinyan, however, was unhurt and unfazed. In the ninth round, Darchinyan caught Mijares with a right hand. Then as Mijares backed away, Darchinyan lunged and landed a straight left hand that knocked out Mijares.^[5] Darchinyan became the first man in history to unify the titles in the weight class.^[6] With the victory, Darchinyan matches Jeff Fenech's record as a 3 time world champion. Along with Kostya Tszyu's record as Undisputed World Champion.

Super Flyweight Title Defenses

On February 7, 2009, Darchinyan successfully defended his unified title against Jorge Arce, winning by TKO in the 11th round.

On December 12, 2009, Darchinyan successfully defended his unified title against Tomás Rojas, winning by KO in the 2nd round.

Move To Bantamweight

Darchinyan moved up to bantamweight to fight IBF champion Joseph Agbeko in Sunrise, Florida on July 11, 2009 and lost a unanimous decision in a fight in which he looked aggressive as usual but kept getting tagged with right hands. Agbeko spoiled Darchinyan's goal of winning his third world title in a different division.

SCORING: Two judges scored the bout 114-113 for Agbeko, while the third had it for the Ghanaian Agbeko, 116-111.

See also

• List of flyweight boxing champions
• List of super flyweight boxing champions
• List of current world boxing champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions
• Ring Magazine pound for pound

Notes and references

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Vic Darchinyan from Boxrec