Vic Darchinyan Mauls Cristian Mijares
By Phil Santos, Overhandright.com (Nov 2, 2008) DoghouseBoxing.com (Photo © Tom Casino/SHOWTIME)  
Vic Darchinyan absolutely schooled Cristian Mijares to claim WBC, WBA world titles while retaining his IBF belt. Darchinyan becomes the unified champ at 115 while shutting me up in the process. I was one of the 26 writers polled by Showtime who surmised, brilliantly I may add, that Mijares was too skilled and that he would win a lopsided decision or possibly a late stoppage.

Well nicely played Vic. I won’t apologize for picking the way I did but I will make this concession. I promise that in
future fights I will not question your boxing skills. While I can’t promise I will always favor you to win, I will not site a lack of defense as a reason.

I, like most fight fans, tend to fall in love with the puncher. Guys like Vic Darchinyan who brashly guarantee a knockout and consistently delivers results. The difference being that many punchers are eventually exposed but in Darchinyan’s case he seemingly continues to improve. More importantly his improvements on defense have made his already lightning offense that much more lethal.

I scored this one-sided affair 79-72 before the crushing final blow was delivered in the ninth. Darchinyan found success in round one by landing a stiff uppercut splattering Mijares onto the canvas. The fight saw Mijares continuously stalking Vic and Darchinyan pounding home the heavier shots. Mijares had small windows of success, actually backing Darchinyan up, but they were far too infrequent to sway more than one round on the cards in his direction. Darchinyan capped the night off by landing an explosive left leaving Mijares flat on his back. The fight was called to a halt and the unbelievably inevitable became reality.

This win, and the manner in which Darchinyan dominated, has elevated his status from another belt holder to a Unified World Champion. Darchinyan shone brightest against the best fighter he has ever faced. He beat Mijares to the punch, outclassed and though it might be a stretch to say he shocked the world he certainly put the boxing world on notice.

Darchinyan improves to 31-1-1 (25) and emerges as a major player in the lower weight classes. Cristian Mijares loses for the first time in 27 fights falling to 36-4-2 (15).
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