DARCHINYAN, BIKA WORKOUT IN SYDNEY HEATWAVE
By Paul Upham in Marrickville
SecondsOut
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Jan 7 2009
There were two reasons WBC/WBA/IBF 115lbs boxing world title holder Vic
Darchinyan could have missed his Wednesday gym workout. First, it was
40 degrees Celsius in the searing summer heat. The second, January 7,
2009 was his 33rd birthday. But neither excuse was acceptable to the
"Raging Bull", who pushed himself through a two-hour workout alongside
IBO super middleweight champion Sakio Bika.
"I will not celebrate my birthday until after I knockout Jorge
Arce on February 7," promised Darchinyan. The two talkative junior
bantamweights clash on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Honda
Center in Anaheim, California.
"I am going to knockout Arce so badly," continued Darchinyan, "Fernando
Montiel or Nonito Donaire will never ever talk about wanting to fight
me ever again. This is the Chinese Year of the Bull and 2009 is going
to be my year."
29 year-old Bika, The Contender 2007 winner, knocked out Peter
Manfredo Jr in three rounds on November 13 to win the vacant IBO world
title. The "Scorpion" was working out at Darchinyan’s gymnasium on
Tuesday at the invitation of his friend.
Armenian born Darchinyan 31-1-1 (25) and Cameroon Bika 27-3-2 (17)
both turned professional in Australia in 2000 after representing
their countries at the Sydney Olympic Games.
"Hey Vic, your birthday today!" said Bika.
"Yes, I’m turning 18 today," laughed Darchinyan. "My birthday is
going to be on February 7, one month later. We are going to have a
big party that night in Los Angeles."
The two boxers travelled from far away to base themselves in a new
country and ultimately become Aussie citizens and achieve boxing
success.
"I remember when I first met Vic when we were training at Bankstown
under Jeff Fenech," recalled Bika. "Vic was living with Danny Green
and I could see he worked very hard in the gym. I saw his first few
fights and he was doing well and getting a lot of support from the
local Armenian community. Vic has always been a very confident fighter
and he has gone all the way. I want to do what he has achieved. Vic
is a good man and he likes to have fun and I give him some talk
back. There is great respect and we are good friends."
sparring anyone?
"Sakio is only 29 and he is still starting. He will have more great
wins," predicted Darchinyan. "He has good power and is very strong. We
were both very lucky in coming to Australia and having the chance
to become professional boxers in such a beautiful place. Sakio is a
good friend of mine. We understand each other. We have fun together
and we can joke."
After Bika had given Darchinyan some warm hearted criticism of the
"Raging Bull’s" music video selections during training, the junior
bantamweight world champion asked, "Can you sing Sakio?"
"No, I can’t sing," replied Bika. "But I can fight and I can
dance!" At which point the carved in stone body of Bika launched into
an impressive five move dance step.
The bell for a new round then rang and it was back to work as the
two champions sweated it out in the brutal heat.