by James Slater — Australia’s WBA, IBF and WBC super-flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan does not forget an insult. Only moments after returning home to Sydney airport yesterday (Australian time) the man who made a mockery of expert claims that said Cristian Mijares would out-class him this past Saturday made it clear who he wants in the ring next – Mexico’s Jorge Arce.
Last year, after Darchinyan was sensationally KO’d by Nonito Donaire, Arce launched into “The Raging Bull” and called him a fraud. Claiming he knew all along that Darchinyan was nothing but a big mouth who couldn’t back up his talk in the ring, Arce made an indelible impression on the big-punching Australian who was born in Armenia. Now, according to Saint Mary’s Star, a March date for the two fierce rivals is expected to be announced on Friday..
Darchinyan, who unified the three super-flyweight belts with an impressive 9th round KO of Mijares, cannot wait to get Arce in the ring.
“I am going to remind him, ‘Close your mouth’ – never talk behind me like that,” Darchinyan, 31-1-1(25) said. “When I fight him, you will see who is the fraud on that night. He is going to be destroyed. He will be hurt badly, and I’m going to knock him out very good – with very big punches. He wants to call me a fraud? Come and stand here and call me a fraud, and then you’re going to see what will happen with him.”
Something tells me the tickets for this one will be sold in a very quick amount of time. A genuine grudge match it seems, Darchinyan-Arce could well be a barnburner! The loss Vic suffered (the only one of his career) and the result that prompted Arce to lay into him, was, Darchinyan said, a valuable lesson.
“If it wasn’t for that loss [to Donaire], I would not be undisputed champion. It taught me a lot. He didn’t beat me, I beat myself.”
And while a rematch would be the only way to settle that score for good, a Darchinyan -Arce clash is also one to look forward to. But would “Travieso” have a good chance against the unified 115-pound champion?
Arce, 51-4-1(39), who has won his last five bouts, all but one inside the distance, lost to the man Darchinyan flattened this past Saturday. The 29-year-old Mexican was clearly out-pointed by Mijares in a July 2007 WBC super-flyweight title fight. Also, Arce has had a lot of tough fights, he came up from a lower weight than did Darchinyan and he is not the hardest guy in the world to hit cleanly. And though he can never be written off due to his own punching power and toughness, Arce will surely be a big underdog against the mighty Australian southpaw, even if Darchinyan is the older man at age 32.
It is to be hoped that this match-up does indeed get announced this week. 2009 may have one of its fights of the year with these two, for however long the action lasts.