411’S BOXING PREVIEW: AGBEKO VS. DARCHINYAN
A. Shakoor
411mania.com
07.09.2009
Let’s see how these guys measure up and pick a winner.
DARCHINYAN VS. AGBEKO: PREVIEW Well this Saturday night, July 11th,
live on Showtime, we could be looking at the fight of the year taking
place in Sunrise, Florida. If you don’t have Showtime, find a friend or
a local sports bar showing the fight, because there will be fireworks
going on one full week after the 4th of July. Vic Darchinyan, an
Armenian fighting out of Australia, is moving up in weight to take
on IBF bantamweight champion, Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko, a native
Ghanaian, now fighting out of the Bronx, New York. Darchinyan, 33,
is 32-1 (26), and the champion, 29 is 26-1 (22). Two cocky, prideful
fighters with knockout power will be looking to put the other to
sleep and we get the benefit of watching. In this preview, I’ll break
down the fighters’ strengths and weaknesses in various categories,
and close the column with my prediction on the winner. Let’s see how
these fellas measure up. EXPERIENCE Agbeko: The champion has very
minimal experience against top-level professionals, and casual fans of
the sport likely wouldn’t recognize the names of any of the fighters
on his resume. He has only fought in the United States three times,
and has fought an overwhelming number of his fights in Ghana against
"questionable" opposition. Agbeko also took a 14 month layoff from
the sport before his last title defense against William Gonzales this
past December. He has never fought on a stage this bright against
an opponent as tough as Darchinyan. Not even close. Darchinyan: The
challenger fought over 170 amateur fights including competing for
Armenia in the 2004 Olympics. In the last six years he has fought
quite often in the States against top-level guys from flyweight
to super-flyweight. In the past three years alone, he has fought
Victor Burgos, Nonito Donaire, Z Gorres, Cristian Mijares, and Jorge
Arce. Vic is also extremely comfortable under the bright lights and on
the big stage. Even on cards where he isn’t headlining, he has the ego
and mouthpiece to get noticed by the media. This event isn’t too big
for him at all. EDGE: DARCHINYAN. OFFENSE Agbeko: He is an orthodox
boxer-puncher who is aggressive and likes to come forward. He reminds
me of a poorman’s Felix Trinidad in the way he fights. Agbeko has
a nice offensive package with decent jab, straight rights, and nice
hooks. He hooks particularly well as a counter-puncher. He is willing
to work the body when going in and out of clinches. The champion
doesn’t use a lot foot movement, and tends to stand in front of his
guy as opposed to using angles. Agbeko likes to mix-it-up right away
and doesn’t take long to warm up or feel out his opponent. Joseph has
very, very good power. His punches do have pop. A problem is that
many of his knockouts have come against unknowns and questionable
opponents. In his last fight, he failed to stop William Gonzales,
a weak-chinned slugger who had been ko’d twice before. In remains to
be seen if his power is for real, or whether he’s "padded his stats".
Darchinyan: Vic is an extremely awkward southpaw fighter. He fights
in a crouching stance, often at an angle. He is capable of exploding
out of this stance with vicious single shots or combinations. He
has a decent jab when he decides to use it, and though he is capable
of doing damage to the body, he more often hunts for the head. The
most dangerous thing about Darchinyan is that he’s so unpredictable
with how he unloads his punches. He is will throw awkward looping,
overhand punches, or hooks and uppercuts from frustratingly bizarre
angles. Vic is also a fast starter. He is extremely cocky, and will
showboat and taunt when he’s on a roll giving out a beating. There
is no feeling out process with Vic either. He’s ready to go from
the opening bell. The man has freakish power in both hands. Vic is a
guy who has true one-punch knockout power. Although we don’t know if
Darchinyan will carry his power to the 118-pound division, he seemed
to have no problem at 115, and could be in the Pacman mode of gaining
power as he moves up in weight due to not feeling drained and gaining
strength. EDGE: DARCHINYAN DEFENSE Agbeko- He has fairly disciplined,
conventional, solid defense. He keeps his hands up, chin tucked, and
elbows fairly close. He doesn’t have a whole lot of head movement,
but he is capable of slipping punches. Although he’s disciplined,
he sometimes gets caught with counter-punches due to leaving himself
open after he swings. Also, due to his aggressive fighting nature,
he is capable of catching some to give some. Credit to him, he has a
very good chin. Darchinyan- Vic can be a very sloppy undisciplined,
defensive fighter at times. He throws looping, wide punches, and
leaves himself open for sharp counters. The challenger also seems to
have weak-chin syndrome. He’s been dropped a few times in his career,
and was knocked out cold by Donaire. Vic has shown the ability to fight
with discipline by using angles, keeping his gloves up, and wrapping up
to protect himself in clinches, particularly in his early fights. He’s
shown that discipline again in his last few fights. However, he can’t
help having flights of true recklessness. A sharp hard puncher like
Agbeko could make Vic pay. Also, overconfidence could leave him
open for retaliatory shots if Agbeko isn’t as hurt as Vic thinks
he may be. EDGE: AGBEKO INTANGIBLES Agbeko: The Ghanaian is 5’6"
with a 67 inch reach. He has fought at bantamweight for his entire
career. He is still in his prime at 29 years old, but he doesn’t
have much experience has a top-level guy against elite fighters. His
one loss was against the good, but nothing special, 5’4" Wladimir
Sidorenko. Though the champion seems to have power, he’s only had one
stoppage past the seventh round. In his last bout he seemed tired
later in the fight. One has to question whether Agbeko feels like
he’s outgrown the division. Again, he’s a career-long bantamweight,
and has already talked of moving up to 122 to take on Vasquez in the
near future. This is the biggest fight of his career and he could
either take advantage of the opportunity by announcing his arrival on
the scene as a major player, or he could prove to be not "ready for
primetime" after a career of fighting stiffs. He predicts the former.
Darchinyan: The challenger is 5’51/2" and has a 641/2 inch reach. He’s
had a lot of big fights against top-level guys. He’s confident to the
point of being comically cocky(like a badguy in a movie). The event
is not too big for him, and he relishes the attention. He wants to
achieve legendary status as a slugger. Although age 33 seems a tad old
for a small fighter, he’s only been a pro for nine years, and seems
to have gotten better in the last three years. He has good stamina,
and has stopped plenty of fighters in the late rounds. He’s a hard guy
who won’t be out toughed. His occasionally wild style and questionable
chin makes him entertaining to watch, but could also lead to disaster.
EDGE: DARCHINYAN PREDICTION
Prediction? I predict excitement and multiple knockdowns. I wouldn’t
be surprised to see Darchinyan get knocked out inside of 6 rounds. It
means that Agbeko is for real, and Darchinyan is just too sloppy and
weak-chinned to be great. However, my job is to make a call here, so
I’m going with Darchinyan. I think he’ll taste the canvas at least
twice and perhaps have some really rough moments. However, I think
his experience and toughness will allow him to weather the storm. I
think he’ll be able to wear Agbeko down later in the fight with his
continuous power punching and tenacity. I expect Agbeko to tire and
Darchinyan will stop him in the deep waters via TKO in round 9.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
