ESPN
June 4 2006

Darchinyan stops Maldonado to retain flyweight title

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com

LAS VEGAS — Vic Darchinyan, elevated to main-event fighter on 24
hours’ notice, put on an impressive performance in his newfound
spotlight, stopping Luis Maldonado in the eighth round to retain his
flyweight title Saturday night.

The fight came one day after the originally scheduled main event, the
much-anticipated third fight between lightweight champion Diego
Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, was canceled when Castillo came in
at 4½ pounds over the 135-pound limit.

Castillo was 3½ pounds over the limit for their rematch last fall,
but Corrales went through with the fight and was knocked out in the
fourth round of a non-title bout.

Determined not to give Castillo such an overwhelming advantage again,
Corrales went along with the advice of his entire team and decided
not to fight.

That left Darchinyan and Maldonado to pick up the slack for 2,500 or
so fans who decided to turn out at the Thomas & Mack Center for the
diminished card; a crowd of more than 10,000 had been expected before
the main event was canceled.

While Castillo left town in disgrace Friday night, Corrales was at
ringside mingling with fans and media and participating in the
Showtime broadcast.

Although Showtime offered him a spot on its July card, Corrales
didn’t want to go through another rigorous training camp so soon and
probably will return in September or October.

Corrales’ promoter Gary Shaw, who said he would lose “a few hundred
thousand dollars” on the event, meanwhile, was preparing a lawsuit
against Castillo. Other lawsuits are possible, including against
Castillo promoter Top Rank, headed by Bob Arum.

But that didn’t stop the show from going on.

Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs), a southpaw from Armenia who lives in
Australia, moved to 5-0 with five knockouts in championship fights.
He has seven knockouts in a row.

He had his way with Mexico’s Maldonado (33-1-1), a protégé of junior
lightweight star Erik Morales.

“My trainer Jeff Fenech told me to be patient,” Darchinyan said. “I
started using my left hand more in the sixth round. I didn’t want to
rush, but I knew I could knock him out. Jeff Fenech always tells me,
‘Throw the left and don’t stop.’ I knew if I keep throwing punches I
will knock him out.”

>From the opening round, Maldonado looked apprehensive given
Darchinyan’s reputation as a hellacious puncher.

Sure enough, the first left hand Darchinyan landed shook him.

“He’s too strong,” Maldonado said. “I know I landed some good
punches, but he is too strong and you don’t know where the punches
are coming from.”

Darchinyan was the constant aggressor, moving forward and looking to
land his left hand. He was in total control in the fourth round,
hurting Maldonado with a pair of left hands and opening a cut near
his right eye.

He had another big round in the fifth, which Darchinyan finished by
nearly knocking Maldonado down with a flurry of shots, including a
flush uppercut that sent him reeling across the ring.

A left hand during a combination knocked an increasingly weary
Maldonado to his knees late in the sixth round.

Although he didn’t score a knockdown in the seventh, Darchinyan
poured it on with his left hand. He hit Maldonado with it nearly at
will, and each shot that landed seemed to buckle his legs.

As the round ended, he had Maldonado pinned along the ropes as he
continued to dish out punishment, and it appeared as though it was
only a matter of time until Darchinyan could force a stoppage.

He did it in the eighth round, assaulting Maldonado with a continued
assortment of hard shots, including his powerful left. The final one
snapped Maldonado’s head back, and referee Joe Cortez stepped in and
stopped it at 1:38.

“I’d like to unify the belts, but I don’t mind moving up to super
flyweight or even bantamweight,” Darchinyan said. “I love belts and I
have room to put up at least 12 in my room.”

He would most prefer to face Jorge Arce, but Darchinyan has been
unable to lure the Mexican star into the ring.

“Arce is chicken,” Darchinyan said. “He doesn’t want to fight me. He
should just admit he doesn’t want to fight me.”

Also on the card, junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs),
a 2004 U.S. Olympian, knocked Oscar Gonzalez (9-5-1) down twice for a
first-round TKO at 2:14.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

Photo: There was no burden for Vic Darchinyan to shoulder as part of
the main event on Saturday, and he still had his flyweight belt to
show for it.
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