Photos: Tom Casino / Showtime – LAS VEGAS (June 3, 2006) – At 5-foot-5 and 112 pounds, Vic Darchinyan is no bigger than a jockey. He would go largely unnoticed in a crowd. Inside the ring, however, he continues to stand tall. In yet another excellent, crowd-pleasing performance, the exciting, pint sized powerhouse who hits like a heavyweight retained his International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title for a fifth time with an eighth-round TKO over IBF No. 8 contender Luis Maldonado Saturday on SHOWTIME.
The Darchinyan-Maldonado bout was elevated to the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING after the Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo fight was canceled a day earlier after Castillo failed to make the weight. The scheduled 12-round battle of unbeatens took place at the Thomas & Mack Center. It was co-promoted by Top Rank, Inc., and Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, in association with Caesars Palace and Wynn Las Vegas and aired at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, by way of Vanadvor, Armenia, cut the challenger on the right eye in the fourth and was credited with a knockdown in the sixth. He was ahead by the scores of 69-62 and 69-63 twice and was totally having his way when the referee stepped in and made a good stop at the 1:38 mark of the eighth round. A forever-stalking, offensive-minded slugger with bone-crunching power, Darchinyan showed once again why he is regarded as one of the hardest hitters pound-for-pound in boxing. The Lord of the Flys, Darchinyan has won eight consecutive bouts by knockout. The southpaw also holds the International Boxing Organization (IBO) 112-pound belt.
Maldonado (33-1-1, 25 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico, had his moments, especially early, when it appeared Darchinyan might walk right through him. Switching from orthodox to the southpaw stance, counter-punching effectively and using his movement to keep out of harm’s way, Maldonado seemed to confuse the defending champion on occasion. Maldonado gave his best and tried to fight back in a hard-fought, fast-paced match but, in the end, Darchinyan was simply too strong. Maldonado, whose 33-fight winning streak ended when he boxed a draw in his last outing on Feb. 24, 2006, was making his second United States start.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called Saturday’s action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter and Karyn Bryant as special correspondent. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was David Dinkins, Jr., with Bob Dunphy directing
In addition to Monday night, Saturday’s fight also will be replayed in its entirety on SHOWTIME TOO at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesday, June 6.
The next SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast on Saturday, July 8 (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) will be an IBF junior middleweight title fight between defending champion Roman Karmazin (34-1-1, 21 KOs) and former undisputed welterweight titleholder Cory Spinks (34-3, 11 KOs).
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING celebrates 20 years of hard-hitting, explosive programming in 2006. In March 1986, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING was born when “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler defeated John “The Beast” Mugabi in a spectacular and unforgettable 11th-round knockout in Las Vegas. Since that time, the network has aired some of the most historic and significant events in the sport including both Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson bouts.
Always at the forefront of boxing, SHOWTIME has set itself apart by televising “great fights, no rights” on the first Saturday of every month. SHOWTIME is the first network to regularly deliver live boxing in High Definition. In addition, SHOWTIME continues to be a pioneer in sports television with a number of interactive features across multiple platforms making SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING the most enjoyable, immersive viewing experience for the boxing audience.
For information on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing.