Vic Darchinyan-Nonito Donaire II – Will It Ever Happen?

by James Slater – When Filipino flyweight Nonito Donaire flattened the fearsome punching Vic Darchinyan in five rounds back in July of 2007, “The Filipino Flash” sent shockwaves through not only the Armenian-born Australian, but through the sport of boxing itself. Until then, “The Raging Bull,” as Darchinyan is known, had beaten everyone in his path, including Nonito’s older brother, Glenn Donaire..

The younger brother not only took Darhinyans’s IBF flyweight title, he also restored the family name. Since then, the 26-year-old who has only ever lost once as a pro (way back in just his second fight), has further enhanced his reputation by successfully defending his 112-pound crown on two occasions – beating Luis Maldonado and Moruti Mthalane, both inside the distance. The Mthalane fight, Donaire’s most recent, came in November of last year, after a near 12 month inactive spell.

During this time, the flyweight boss saw the man he shocked make the move up to super-flyweight and restore his own reputation with splendid victories over Dimitri Kirilov and Cristian Mijares, both of whom Darchinyan stopped. Now, the word is, after his highly anticipated battle with Mexico’s tough and always colourful Jorge Arce is over with, the 33-year-old Australian citizen will move up yet again, this time to bantamweight. The question is, will we never get the chance to see Darchinyan-Donaire II, and will Vic never really care if he does not get the chance to avenge his sole career loss?

As great as he has looked up at 115-pounds, and as fine a fighter as he has proven himself to be in general, does Darchinyan not need to get back in there with the man who stopped him; so as to silence the few critics of his that remain? Of course, if Darchinyan can no longer make super-flyweight comfortably, no-one can blame him for moving up – certainly no-one is accusing him of ducking Donaire. But if he were to hang around at 115 for just a while longer, surely the two rivals could meet in a rematch that would prove to be highly interesting.

Donaire has a March defence coming up against the unbeaten Raul Martinez of San Antonio, Texas, and it would really have been something if he and Darchinyan had agreed to meet at super-flyweight immediately after their two respective fights. Donaire would almost certainly have agreed to a second fight, at the slightly higher weight, but with Darchinyan seemingly headed to bantamweight we can forget it. And this is a shame.

The fans would love to see if “The Filipino Flash” could once again slay “The Raging Bull,” and the fight would have almost definitely been a big seller. Who knows, maybe the rematch will still happen, but it looks doubtful. This part two, as is often the case in boxing, seems destined to go unmade.

Will Darchinyan, and to a lesser degree, Donaire, live to regret not meeting again? And, in the case of the 33-year-old, will there always be a sense of his wondering, “could I have ever beaten him?”