The Orange County Register (California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
February 8, 2009 Sunday

Darchinyan the first man to stop Arce since Carbajal accomplished it
10 years ago

By Mark Whicker, The Orange County Register

ANAHEIM, Calif.

ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Jorge Arce had said Vic Darchinyan could only cause
trouble with one hand.

Very true.

Sandy Koufax was like that, too.

Darchinyan’s left hand popped its way through Arce’s defenses, his
resolve, his experience, and through most of the skin above and around
both eyes.

Between the 11th and 12th rounds, ring doctor Paul Wells struck a blow
himself, for decency. He didn’t allow Arce to take another shot in an
IBF super-flyweight championship fight Saturday night at Honda Center
that had long since escaped Arce’s control.

It was Darchinyan’s 34th fight, his 26th knockout and his 32nd
victory, with one draw thrown in. It might not have been the violent
end that he had promised for most of the preceding month, but it was
systematic and a little instructive, too.

It also made Darchinyan the first man to stop Arce since Michael
Carbajal did it, 10 years ago.

"I was waiting for big uppercuts, and he was slow, you know?"
Darchinyan said. "At the end of the rounds I was picking it up. If I
take time, I can catch anybody with them. I was as fresh in round 11
as I was in round 1."

But this isn’t just a Raging Bull, as Darchinyan calls himself. This
is also a Schemin’ Armenian.

Darchinyan’s offense is self-explanatory. But his defense wins fights,
too. He stood almost to the side against Arce, moving his shoulders
constantly, giving "El Travieso" very little to hit.

Then Darchinyan would sort of unwrap that left hand, almost like an
old bolo punch. Then he would slap his gloves together and hold both
hands out to the side. Then he might strike with a quick uppercut, or
a body shot, or a home run shot to the head (thankfully for Arce,
quite a few of them missed).

Throughout, people in Darchinyan’s corner kept yelling, "Double jab!
Keep your distance! Double jab, double jab!" Darchinyan pretended to
listen, and did indeed paw at Arce’s face with an occasional right
lead, but mostly he snake-charmed Arce with punching angles that you
don’t see every night.

"He’s a lot like that Lazy Susan you see at the Chinese restaurant,"
said Gary Shaw, Darchinyan’s promoter. "You reach for the prime
rib. All of a sudden, it moves to the other side. He takes an
opponent’s game plan completely away."

But let’s be clear. This guy can hit.

In the fourth round, he rocked Arce hard with a left, and Arce’s
survival instincts took him to the far ropes before the bell rang. A
couple of other rounds ended with Darchinyan wobbling Arce.

Finally, in the 11th, there was too much blood and too little time to
keep it going. All three judges gave Darchinyan 10 of 11 rounds, which
was about right.

"He surprised me," Darchinyan said. "I didn’t expect him to fight like
he did, but he proved to me he was tough. I hit him with some good
shots and he kept fighting back. I would have liked to have knocked
him out cold, but it’s OK. I’m happy. If the fight goes on, maybe I
knock him out.

"Sure, there were head butts. We were both at fault. I’m not blaming
him. I was just too strong. I think my speed was a difference."

"There was a lot of bad blood between these two," Shaw said. "Vic
really wanted a knockout and went for it. If he hadn’t gone for the
knockout the way it did, maybe it would have come sooner."

The cut men in both corners were busy after two rounds, with Arce
carving up Darchinyan’s eyebrow with a left hook. Arce needed to do
more of that, to test Darchinyan’s chin with counterpunches and
accumulate some punishment inside. He couldn’t, primarily because
Darchinyan played such good defense. You still don’t know how good
Darchinyan’s chin is. Some fighters are so good, they never find out.

Arce was agitated at the end and unhappy about the doctor’s call.

"Going into the last round, a fighter always has a chance to win," he
said. "I recognize he is a strong fighter, but that cut was from his
elbow. He’s a dirty fighter who throws a lot of elbows."

What’s next for the Calculating Bull?

"We could go for a fourth belt in this weight class, or we could go
with (Fernando) Montiel at 118,"

Shaw said. "Or we could go with Israel Vazquez at 122."

That’s the same Vazquez who emerged from the brutal, beautiful trilogy
with Rafael Marquez and became the fight fan’s fighter.

Vazquez posed for pictures with Darchinyan afterward. Their fight
would promise tons of talk and buckets of blood. Just don’t
underestimate a crafty left-hander.