VIC DARCHINYAN KO5 DIMITRI KIRILOV

Those who thought that Vic Darchinyan was damaged goods after his knockout defeat against Nonito Donaire will have to think again, because the Aussie-Armenian looked better than I have ever seen him in his fifth-round demolition of Dimitri Kirilov in Saturday night’s junior bantamweight title fight on Showtime.

I mentioned in the preview that Darchinyan had planned on being faster than usual in this fight, and so he was. He also looked better-balanced and sharper, and the left-hand punching from his southpaw stance was straighter than usual, with fewer of the wide, looping punches for which he is well known.

Kirilov, a tough and capable boxer, was outclassed and overpowered. I had expected a long, competitive fight with Darchinyan winning in the later stages but instead this was virtually a mismatch. Kirilov just couldn’t seem to get out of the way of Darchinyan’s left hands and from very early in the fight it looked just a matter of time before the game little Russian would be stopped. Sturdy though Kirilov is, he just couldn’t keep taking those hammering left-handers for too many rounds.

Darchinyan’s confidence was apparent from the start. He fought like a man who knew he could hurt his opponent and that his opponent couldn’t hurt him. Kirilov did land some good right hands and he got in a few nice left hooks to the body, but the really hard shots were all coming from Darchinyan in this clash of fighters from the former USSR.

Nothing worked for Kirilov. Not only was he getting hit hard and often, he was also made to miss wildly, sometimes stumbling across the ring after Darchinyan ducked under the Russian’s increasingly desperate left hooks.

By the fourth I was wondering how much more Kirilov could take, but the end came suddenly in the fifth as Darchinyan’s big left hands busted the Russian’s nose and twice sent him to the canvas. It was a relief when referee Earl Brown completed the count after 65 seconds of the round because I would not have wanted to have seen Kirilov take any more punches.

At 32, Darchinyan has dramatically re-established himself as one of the star attractions in the lighter weight classes. This was simply a tremendous performance made even more impressive by the fact that it was achieved with professionalism and poise as well as punching power.