A WORLD CHAMPION WHO’S JUST ANOTHER FACE IN THE CROWD
DANIEL LEWIS
The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
November 16, 2009 Monday
First Edition
SPORTS PERFORMER AWARDS
HE GETS mobbed on the streets of Los Angeles and in his native
Armenia. Yet in his adopted homeland of Australia, he can walk down
the streets of Marrickville, where he own’s Jeff Fenech’s famous old
gym, and not get so much as a knowing glance. Welcome to the weird
world of Victor Darchinyan.
Unlike high-profile Australian boxers, Darchinyan’s level of fame
seems to be in inverse proportion to the number of quality opponents
he sends to the canvas.
In his 35 professional bouts he has lost just twice and drawn once,
while 26 of his 32 victories have come from knockouts and aficionados
have no doubt Darchinyan is highly deserving of an accolade such as
The Age’s Sports Performer of the Year award, presented by Colonial
First State.
Jamie Pandaram, who covers boxing for the Sydney Morning Herald,
wrote in February that Darchinyan was "better than Jeff Fenech, more
comprehensive than Kostya Tszyu. When Vic Darchinyan finally hangs
up the gloves, he will be recognised as the greatest pugilist ever
to fight for Australia".
Born in 1976, multilingual, university educated, a former soldier and
just 166 centimetres, Darchinyan is nicknamed "Raging Bull" ââ~B¬"
a southpaw with a knockout punch in both explosive hands. But he is
also entitled to rage about his lack of recognition in Australia. As
one magazine profile noted this year: "Darchinyan gets fewer autograph
requests here than Sydney FC’s second-choice goalkeeper."
A year ago, in the super flyweight division, he unified the IBF, WBA
and WBC belts by mauling glamour boy Cristian Mijares of Mexico in a
bout in California. His most recent fight, in July, saw him suffer
his second defeat, beaten on points by Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko as he
tried to claim the IBF bantamweight title.