What We Learned This Weekend – 4-9-2012 Edition
By: José A. Maldonado, MFA
36 year old Vic Darchinyan looked every bit his age Friday, falling to WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka in Tokyo. This could mark the end The Raging Bull’s fighting days at the elite level. Once one of boxing’s most feared punchers, Darchinyan (37-5-1-27 KOs) has not KOd anybody in 3 years. He is only 2-3 in his past 5 fights and, despite constant pressure and aggression, is no longer effective in his approach. In his prime, he stopped 4 opponents after the tenth round. In his past 3 defeats, however, all of which came by decision, he has been unable to use his power to pull out the victory in spite of his relentless attacks in the later rounds. He is no doubt still a solid fighter, capable of giving anyone in the division a hard fight, as evidenced by his split decision loss to Abner Mares in 2010, yet Darchinyan is no longer capable of taking out top guys, which is a major cause for concern for a fighter used to winning. At this age it’d be difficult for him to drop down to the lower weight divisions in which he found so much success early on. Perhaps he will redirect his attention to MMA now, a switch he has considered for quite a while. For Yamanaka, meanwhile, it is unclear whether he will continue to defend his title in Japan, where he is a fairly popular draw, or come to the United States for a bigger challenge. Either way, this was by far his career best performance against his toughest opponent yet.
On the Yamanaka undercard, Takahiro Ao (previously spelled “Aoh”) celebrated his 28th birthday in style, outpointing fellow southpaw Terdsak Kokietgym and retaining his WBC super featherweight title. Thailand’s Kokietgym, who failed in his previous attempts at a world title against Juan Manuel Márquez and Steven Luevano, suffered a cut over his left eyebrow after a head butt in the second round. Though it was a closely disputed fight, Ao (23-2-10 KOs) knew he was ahead due to the WBC’s open scoring system, which is observed in Japan. Many boxing fans are hoping that Ao’s next fight will be against WBA champ Takashi Uchiyama (18-0-15 KOs) in what would be a huge fight in Japan. Though it would be an excellent matchup, many see it as a pipe dream since, even though they have agreements with various television outlets, there appear to be many promotional obstacles in negotiations. Let’s hope this one gets done.
Hozumi Hasegawa got back in the win column, handing Mexico’s Felipe Carlos Felix his first loss in a 7th round stoppage. Hasegawa looked very sharp and dominated the bout, repeatedly landing right hooks on Felix and beating him to the punch. In the 7th he dropped Felix and ended matter shortly after he got up, a barrage of punches prompting the referee to step in and stop it at 2:28 of the round. Hasegawa is a skilled fighter who has been plagued by inactivity, having fought only 3 times in 2 years. Should he hope to challenge for another title, he needs to stay busy so as to keep his name on people’s minds while staying ready for what may come.
In a terrible matchup that will surely have the boxing gods writhing with anger, 43 year old James “Lights Out” Toney took on bare knuckle boxer Tommy Gunn in Mississippi. Gunn’s corner stopped the fight in the fifth claiming their man had broken his hand after a terrible performance in which he backed up, blocked punches, and simply refused to engage. Toney, meanwhile, looked rather quick and elusive for a guy weighing 50 pounds more than the last time we saw him (a decision loss to Denis Lebedev in November) and at some points in the fight seemed to be merely toying with New Jersey’s Gunn. With the win, Toney (74-7-3-45 KOs) will probably look to pick up a more significant fight at heavyweight. Now let’s never speak of this travesty again.
22 year old Golden Boy Prospect Ronny Ríos turned in a dominant performance against the limited but game Guillermo Sánchez on Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” card. Though Ríos landed crisp combinations and moved well around the ring, Sánchez would not go easily into the night, testing Ríos’ mettle by pressing the action. There were a few boo birds in the crowd in the 5th and 7th rounds when the fight slowed down, but Ríos didn’t allow them to bring down his confidence and instead used them as motivation to pick up the pace. The judges rewarded Ríos with scores of 80-72 (twice) and 79-93. This is the first win in what will surely be a busy year for the former amateur standout. The Santa Ana, CA native improves to 18-0-8 KOs while Sánchez falls to 13-6-1-5 KOs.
In a spectacular back-and-forth battle for a crack at WBC champ Sonny Boy Jaro, Edgar Sosa and Wilbert Uicab electrified an already energetic crowd in Cancún, with Sosa pulling out the win. The victory did not come easily, though, as Uicab gave him a tough fight, dropping him in the 1st just before the bell sounded (luckily referee Jon Schorle wasn’t there to stop the fight as he did with Kirkland-Molina). Sosa tried to slow down the pace and establish some distance, but Uicab wasn’t having it, going so far as to pick up and throw Sosa, a move that caused Jay Nady to take a point away. The infraction only turned up the heat on the fight and caused them to go even harder at each other. In the sixth Sosa dropped Uicab just before the bell sounded and slowly started to pull away. With the crowd chanting their names the fighters demonstrated huge heart and determination in the rousing eleventh and twelfth rounds. The two went at it toe-to-toe in what will surely be candidates for Round of the Year in December. The crowd gave these warriors a standing ovation shortly before the unanimous decision in Sosa’s favor was read. Regardless of what happens in the Sosa-Jaro fight, I wouldn’t mind seeing these guys go at it again.
Mexico’s Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto kept his June fight against Lucas Matthysse intact with a victory over Brazil’s Claudinei Lacerda in Cancún. Soto used his superior boxing and ring generalship to dominate Lacerda for the 10 round decision. In the first round it appeared that Soto was trying to make short work of Lacerda, perhaps motivated by Jorge Linares’ loss last week in the same ring (a loss that cost Linares a summer rematch against Antonio DeMarco). Soto’s performance did not seem to put a damper on Lacerda’s spirits, nonetheless, as the Brazilian refused to sit between rounds, choosing to dance instead. Though Soto did win, one has to wonder at his chances as a junior welterweight. He’s been most dominant at 126 and 130, whereas at 140 he doesn’t seem to have as much power and, quite frankly, he doesn’t look to be in the best of shape. Even against a limited fighter like Lacerda, he looked a bit winded toward the end of the fight. Not to say that a Matthysse win is a foregone conclusion, especially against a fighter of Soto’s caliber, but this could be a dangerous move on La Zorrita’s part.
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José A. Maldonado is senior staff writer at punchrate.com and contributor to realcombatmedia.com
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