Box: Darchinyan, Sikali meet for first time

Australian Associated Press
March 25, 2005, Friday

SYDNEY, March 25 — Mzukisi Sikali’s trainer says his charge has the
mind of a chess player and computer.

But whether he has the moves and power will be revealed on Sunday
when he takes on Australia’s world flyweight boxing champion Vic
Darchinyan at Sydney Olympic Park.

Darchinyan and South African Sikali met for the first time at today’s
press conference before the Australian’s first International Boxing
flyweight defence.

“When I can see my opponent, I become much angrier,” Darchinyan said.

The intense Armenian-born boxer took encouragement from the fact Sikali
only intermittently made eye contact with him during the traditional
stare down pose adopted by the two protagonists for the photographers.

“It tells me he is scared of me,” Darchinyan said.

Both trainers today were full of praise for 33-year-old Sikali,
who has logged 29 wins (17 KOs), five losses and two draws.

Darchinyan’s trainer Jeff Fenech labelled the challenger a “complete
fighter”.

“He’s got great coordination and a great eye. He doesn’t use his feet
much, he uses his great upper body movement and makes you miss and
makes you pay,” Fenech said.

Sikali’s trainer Harold Volbrecht compared his fighter’s style to
boxing legends Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard and said his
charge had the mind of a chess player and computer, who never needed
to be told anything more than once.

Darchinyan made it clear he wanted to extend his collection of title
belts well beyond his IBF strap and the lightly regarded International
Boxing Organisation belt the South African will put on the line
on Sunday.

“I want to unify the belts and then maybe I move up to a different
weight, bantamweight,” Darchinyan said.

“After this fight I am looking for a fight for the World Boxing
Association world title against Lorenzo Parra of Venezuela.”

However, Fenech was adopting a more circumspect attitude following
the world title fight loss of his super middleweight Danny Green
earlier this month.

“I don’t like putting the old cart before a horse, because I think I
did that in my last training regime with Danny Green, I was very, very
confident he would win, I don’t want to do that with Vic,” Fenech said.

However, Fenech felt Darchinyan would be primed to produce a better
performance on Sunday than he did in taking the title off the
previously unbeaten former champion Irene Pacheco last December,
because of a superior preparation this time around.

Softly spoken Sikali respected Darchinyan more for his physical
prowess than for his mental aptitude.

“He (Darchinyan) is a strong guy, but the way I see him, he’s not a
clever guy,” Sikali said.

The undercard for Fenech’s first world title promotion will also
include two other world ranked fighters in super bantamweight Nedal
Hussein and junior welterweight Lovemore Ndou.