DARCHINYAN AVOIDS TALKING ABOUT REMATCH WITH DONAIRE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 Mar 2010
WBC/WBA super flyweight champion Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan surprisingly didn’t go off on a tirade about a rematch with Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire who knocked him out cold with one punch on July 7, 2007 to take away Darchinyan’s IBF and IBO flyweight titles in a pre-fight press conference for his title defense on Saturday.
Instead, Darchinyan focused on his title defense against Rodrigo “Gatito” Guerrero at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage, California on Saturday.
Darchinyan who has a record of 33-2-1 with 27 big knockouts needs to overcome the comparatively inexperienced Mexican Guerrero who has a record of 13-1-1 with 9 knockouts including eleven straight wins before eyeing a rematch with Donaire. Guerrero often switches between his regular southpaw stance and orthodox and can confuse his opponents because of this.
In their final pre-fight press conference, boxingscene.com quoted Darchinyan as saying he didn’t want “to talk about any possible fights for me in the future. My main focus is on Guerrero and after defeating a determined, young opponent, I am here and ready to do my job.”
The often cocky Australian who was originally from Armenia said the title defense against Guerrero is a good fight for him and it would give him a chance to “showcase all my skills, not just a punch. I plan to do everything – box, think and stay calm.”
According to the boxingscene.com report Darchinyan noted that Guerrero had fought a couple of good fighters and done very well and there was no way he was going to underestimate the Mexican adding, “I think he has a future in boxing, but it won’t begin until after I beat him on Saturday.”
Guerrero is coming off a KO win over unheralded Rey Lopez last December 18. Prior to that he won a unanimous eight round decision over Luis Maldonado, the same fighter who was pulverized by Donaire and lost by an 8th round TKO in an IBF/IBO flyweight title bout in December 2007.
Guerrero also won a twelve round split decision over journeyman Juan Alberto Rosas to grab the WBC Continental Americas title on July 26, 2008. Rosas in turn had lost an eight round unanimous decision to Filipino southpaw AJ “Bazooka” Banal on May 5, 2007 but in his last fight won a twelve round unanimous decision over the unorthodox and wildly swinging Federico Catubay in an IBF super flyweight eliminator.
Discussing a possible knockout, Darchinyan said “If the knockout comes, it comes. But it is going to come. He will feel my power."
For his part Guerrero spent some time dismissing claims that he was not ready for a fighter like Darchinyan saying “I know a lot of people may not have heard of me, but I guarantee I am not here to fall down in the first or 12th round – or any round, for that matter. People and fans who have never seen me fight are saying I’m no good. I believe they are all in for a surprise, a really big surprise.”
Guerrero conceded “Everyone has an opinion, but the negative talk has only given me more motivation. And I didn’t need any more motivation. Fighting for two world titles was enough. Darchinyan is a great fighter with a lot of power. But, watch and see, I can fight and I have power, too. This is going to be a great fight."
The fight card promoted by the well-known Gary Shaw will also feature unbeaten Australian , Lenny “Lenny Zappa’’ Zappavigna (22-0, 15 KOs) who battles Fernando “La Fiera” Angulo (22-6, 14 KOs) of Venezuela for the International Boxing Organization (IBO) lightweight title.
Zappavigna’s record is padded with wins over a number of Filipinos with no outstanding talent and often fighting above their natural weight limits in Australia. The wins include a unanimous eight round decision over Rey Anton Olarte last July 24, a 2nd round TKO over Jurland Cebiza ob August 27, 2008, a unanimous ten round decision over Leon Maratas on July 25, 2008, a 2nd round KO over Ruben Santiollanos on March 7, 2008 among others.
Angulo, on the other hand, scored a 4th round TKO over the comparatively worthy contender in Ranee “Th KO Kid” Ganoy in an IBF eliminator for the No. 2 lightweight ranking on December 5, 2008.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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