The Courier Mail (Australia)
December 3, 2009 Thursday
1 – First with the news Edition

Raging bull set free in the ring

BYLINE: Mike Hurst

POUND for pound, as they say in the boxing game, Vic Darchinyan is one
of the strongest and most punishing fighters in the world.

“But when you come up against someone else who also has a strong
punch, then you need something extra to win,” said Darchinyan, who
came from Armenia for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and transformed
himself into Australia’s own “Raging Bull”.

“I weigh 57kg at the moment. I have benchpressed 120kg,” Darchinyan
said, by way of explanation of the lethal left-hand knockout blow
which has earned him 26 KOs in his 33 victories.

He has lost only twice, notably in his most recent bout, narrowly,
against Ghana’s Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko, who left him with 44
stitches as a reminder of the butts which split both eyebrows to the
bone.

That was in July. Recently, with trainer Angelo Hyder in his corner,
Darchinyan – like his former flatmate Danny Green before him – decided
to try something new, a smarter way to win a world title.

With Green’s encouragement, Darchinyan sought out Hayden Knowles –
strength and conditioner for the Parramatta Eels – to help him improve
. . . wait for it: his punching power.

But this time Darchinyan will start delivering from the floor up.

“I told him he won’t be going anywhere near the benchpress rack while
he works with me,” said Knowles, who also designed and supervises the
strength and conditioning program for Dani Samuels, the shock gold
medallist for the discus throw at this year’s world athletics
championships in Berlin.

Darchinyan clearly enjoys the variety of the Knowles workouts, saying:
“I think it’s going to be successful for me.

“I know already I don’t use my legs enough. I know the power comes
through the legs.

“I know this since I started boxing at the age of eight, but until
now I never had the chance to train like this.

“I know if I connect my hands to my hips I’m going to be unstoppable.”

Even at 33, Darchinyan has an unquenchable thirst to better himself.

With six world titles to his credit, Darchinyan’s next fight in
California on December 12 is a mandatory encounter against WBC interim
world champion Tomas Rojas, of Mexico, who recently cleaned up South
African Evans Mbamba, who had been 16-0.

Does Darchinyan have time to absorb the new training and implement
changes before then?

Certainly, Hyder said: “He’s got plenty of time. (The ability to
change) is in his head, mate. He could make it between rounds.”

The Darchinyan-Rojas fight will be televised on Sky Channel. If
Darchinyan wins, he is set to face Filipino Nonito Donaire in March to
unify the WBA and WBC titles at super-flyweight. Donaire stopped
Darchinyan in five rounds two years ago.