DARCHINYAN CLAIMS THIRD IBO WORLD TITLE

Tert.am
10:23 21.05.10

Vic Darchinyan became the first boxer in history to win three IBO world
titles, as he demolished Filipino Eric Barcelona in their clash for
the vacant bantamweight title at Parramatta Leagues Club on Thursday
night, reports Smh.com.au website.

Darchinyan removed any fears about a reported injury to his left
hand by twice knocking down Barcelona in the 5th round and once more
in the 11th on his way to recording a convincing unanimous 12-round
points win.

The three judges scored decisively in Darchinyan’s favour by the
scores of 120-103, 118-105 and 116-108.

The Armenian-born slugger added the IBO’s bantamweight belt to the
ones he had previously won at flyweight and superflyweight. The
victory set the 34-year-old southpaw up for a major fight in the
United States in mid-year.

He could meet the winner of either the Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez
featherweight bout in Los Angelos on Sunday or the victor of the other
big fight on that card between Colombia’s IBF bantamweight champion
Yonnhy Perez and Mexican challenger Abner Mares.

Barcelona, who had never been knocked down or stopped in his previous
72 professional bouts, proved a willing and rugged opponent. He wasn’t
afraid to mix it with the Australian and was penalised a point for
low blows in the 6th and 12th rounds.

He landed some decent single shots, but couldn’t maintain any pressure
against Darchinyan, who piled up points with his right jab and some
accurate power punching.

It wasn’t a pretty fight with the Filipino slipping to the canvas a
number of times and frequently grappling with Darchinyan, who ruled
the contest with his greater punch output and more accurate blows.

Barcelona landed a good overhand left in the opening round, but
Darchinyan started to open up towards the end of the second and third
and started the fourth aggressively before ratcheting the pressure
up in the fifth.

He wasn’t able to immediately capitalise on the two knockdowns, the
first of which seemed almost as much a slip as a punch, though the
second was definitely due to a venomous left hand shot.

Barcelona tried to pressure Darchinyan at the start of the 11th,
but the tiring Filipino paid the price as he was put down for a
third time. Darchinyan tried to close the show in style and almost
succeeded as he wobbled Barcelona with a left to the chin inside the
last 10 seconds.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress