By Ted Sares:
Mijares has what I want – the remaining major belts in the 115-pound division. Let’s see how great a matador he really is when he steps inside the ring and goes face-to-face with the Raging Bull. He won’t be yelling ‘Toro!’ He’ll be screaming ‘I surrender!
Vic Darchinyan
I’m one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world,” Mijares said. “On Nov. 1, Darchinyan is going to find that out the hard way when I make history unifying this division.
—Christian Mijares
Every once and a while you get a sure thing. If Israel Vazquez fights Rafael Marquez, it’s a sure thing just as it is if Ricardo Torres met Kendall Holt for a third time. Mijares vs. Darchinyan is another that requires the full attention of serious boxing fans everywhere when they meet on November 1 in a unification battle.
Mijares (35-3-2, 13 KOs), of Gomez Palacio, Mexico, is coming off a third-round destruction of ring worn Chatchai Sasakul, while Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, won his title after knocking out Dimitri “The Baby” Kirilov in the fifth round in August in spectacular fashion.
If ever there was a Matador vs. Bull fight, this is it. Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan is a pressure fighter with bricks in his gloves. However, his weird style can allow a highly skilled foe like Mijares to use fast counters to exploit at will.
Mijares last tasted defeat in 2002 and is on a 26-fight undefeated streak. A winner over the highly regarded Jorge Arce, he beat Jose Navarro in February of this year and gave a clinic in the process. Exhibiting old school defensive moves that were eye popping and a punch volume that was off the charts, he schooled the equally busy Navarro whose face looked like a cheese and sausage pizza at the end. In the worse score card I have ever seen, one of the judges had it 108-120 in favor of Navarro (meaning he won every round!). Disgraceful is not the right word to describe this bizarre scoring.
Christian, the WBC and WBA super flyweight champ, has done most of his work in Mexico (though he did defeat Katsushige Kawashima twice in Japan, no easy feat for any visiting fighter). Darchinyan has fought all over the globe. He was not overly impressive in his draw with Z “The Dream” Gorres in the Philippines, but looked vastly improved against “The Baby” exhibiting an effective jab, a fight plan which he followed with disciplined focus, and the ability to close decisively once he had the Russian hurt.
Luis “Titi” Maldonado, faught to a draw with Mijares on February 24, 2006. Interestingly, “Titi” was brutally stopped by Darchinyan four months later.
The fact that both are southpaws does present the potential for a cat and mouse affair, but these two are atypical southpaws and will not let that happen. Like the tale of the Scorpion and the Tortoise, it is not in Vic’s nature to let that happen, He will stalk Mijares and try to take him out with his superior power. However, the Mexican with be utilizing his tool chest of wonderful technical skills to keep Vic at bay.
Many observers think Vic’s style is made to order for Mijares thus making this an easy fight for him and setting up a mega battle with Fernando Montiel. They question how a fighter who is slow, telegraphs his punches and fights in such an unusual manner can beat a slickster. While I am a big fan of Darchinyan, my brain tells me they are correct, but I will not go so far as to say it will be “easy.” If Vic can use his jab effectively and avoid bull rushes and over reaching as is his wont, he has a shot. Mijares, however, is as skilled as they come and if he gets his counter uppercut laser sighted, it could get ugly for the Armenian/Aussie bomber.
But Vic does have one thing the Mexican lacks; he has a punchers chance.