LOS ANGELES (April 23, 2011) – In one of the most powerful performances of his career, two-division world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan dominated former International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight titlist Yonnhy “El Colombiano” Perez en route to winning a fifth-round technical decision and the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) 118-pound title Saturday on SHOWTIME® .
The diminutive Darchinyan was in total command from the outset of a scheduled 12-round bout at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, scored a knockdown in the second and was ahead 50-44 on the three scorecards when the one-sided slugfest was halted due to an accidental headbutt at 1:44 of the round.
Southpaw Darchinyan, of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, improved to 36-3-1 with 27 knockouts while Colombia’s Perez, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., fell to 20-2-1 with 14 KOs after losing his second consecutive start.
By winning a fight elevated to main event status after a bout between IBF champion Joseph Agbeko and undefeated Abner Mares was postponed after Agbeko withdrew after suffering what doctors diagnosed as likely the sudden onset of sciatica earlier in the week, Darchyinan sets himself up for possible rematches with both Agbeko and Mares, both of whom he lost decisions to.
It also likely means another possible appearance on SHOWTIME for the crowd-pleasing Darchinyan, who made his 13th appearance on the network Saturday night. He is No. 3 on the all-time list for network appearances behind Julio Cesar Chavez (17) and Evander Holyfield.
“He took big punches,’’ Darchinyan said afterward. “I wanted to knock him out, but he is still a great fighter. It was a headbutt. But if it wasn’t a headbutt, I’d knock him out. No more boxing in my style.
“Today I’d fight anyone in the division. I’d like to fight Abner Mares if he’d fight me. If not, I’ll fight Nonito Donaire. If they won’t fight me, I’ll move up to another division.”
Darchinyan was under the impression that Perez did not want to continue after a headbutt opened a cut on his brow close to the right eye. But although blood spurted immediately, ringside physician, Dr. Paul Wallace, said it was not the case.
“Perez suffered from an arterial bleed,’’ Wallace explained. “One of his blood vessels had been cut and it was pumping directly into his eye. He gave no indication he wanted to stop.”
Perez offered no excuses after suffering his second consecutive defeat.
“I know it appeared differently from the outside but I was just getting warmed up,’’ he said. “At the beginning, I felt that Darchinyan was not as heated up as I expected him to be. I felt I was making headway in the later rounds.
“(But) I am disappointed that the fight ended this way. My head feels fine. I would have continued had the referee not called the fight. The knock down was legitimate — he caught me.
“Now I will head back to Colombia, relax and regroup and then decide the next move in my career.”
A fight promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, Don King Productions, Thompson Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions, will re-air this week as follows:
DAY CHANNEL
Tuesday, April 26, at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT SHO EXTREME
Saturday’s fight will be available ON DEMAND beginning on Tuesday, April 26.
Gus Johnson (blow-by-blow), Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver (analysts) called the action with Jim Gray reporting from ringside. The executive producer was David Dinkins, Jr., with Bob Dunphy directing.
Upcoming: On Saturday, May 7, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) defends his WBO welterweight title against three-division champion Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) in the main event of a four-fight telecast at the sold-out MGM Grand in Las Vegas that will be produced and distributed live on SHOWTIME PPV® ( 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) In other bouts: Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-0-1, 17 KOs) risks his WBO 122-pound belt against Jorge Arce (56-6-2, 43 KOs), popular ex-world champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) returns to face Alfonso Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight match and Mike Alvarado (29-0, 21 KOs) and Ray Narh (25-1, 21 KOs) clash in a 10-round super lightweight bout.
The Super Six World Boxing Classic continues on Saturday, May 14, when undefeated WBA 168-pound champion Andre Ward defends against Arthur Abraham (32-2, 26 KOs) in a Semifinal fight on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) at Home Depot in Carson, Calif.
The Ward-Abraham winner will advance to the Finals against the winner of the Saturday, June 4 Super Six World Boxing Classic Semifinal and WBC super middleweight title fight between defending champion Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KOs) and Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KOs) at Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast)).
For information on SHOWTIME Sports Programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.
Armenians Provide Thrills on Darchinyan Undercard
In front of a huge group of their compatriots, an Armenian contingent brought the pain and provided much of the excitement tonight on the undercard of Vic Darchinyan’s sensational TD5 over Yonnhy Perez at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.
Among them, junior welterweight Art Hovhanessyan (13-0-1, 7 KO’s) stopped a game Jose Alfredo Lugo in the fifth of a scheduled six-round bout and in the undercard fight of the night, junior lightweight Azat Hovhanessyan (no relation) lost his pro debut by unanimous decision, but gained a standing ovation from the large crowd in attendance, as he went to war with California’s Juan Reyes over four scintillating rounds.
Undefeated junior welterweight Art was dominant in his dismantling of Lugo. “I felt great in there,” he said post-fight. “I was coming back from 10 months off, but I had no problems picking up where I left off.
25-year-old Hovhannisyan had over 250 amateur bouts and captured numerous titles as an amateur and it showed. His blazing hand speed and lightning counter punches were too much for Lugo who tried valiantly in vain.
After a knockdown, Referee Zac Young had finally seen enough carnage and mercifully ended Lugo’s night at 1:57.
Hovhanessyan is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.
After his war with Reyes, Azat Hovhanessyan was sadly disappointed. With a tear in his blackened eyes, he spoke about disappointing his Armenian fans.
“I feel terrible for letting them down. He (Reyes) was a strong fighter and because I was making the jump from amateur to pro he surprised me. I will be back.”
Hovhanessyan has nothing to be ashamed of, as his performance and that of Reyes (now 1-0-1) were the kind that, regardless of who won or lost, gained both men a ton of fans. Back and forth they went, trading momentum and nuclear bombs on each other’s chins as the appreciative crowd went into frenzy.
“Can you believe this fight?” shouted incredulous legendary broadcaster Al Bernstein.
The difference may have been the fact that Reyes was able to wobble Hovhanessyan in the third.
Regardless, both fighters will live to fight another day and can always hang their hats on the fight they put on tonight. It was the definition of heart and the will to win.
Shaw: Darchinyan Will Have His Choice of Opponents
After witnessing Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan’s dominant performance against former champion Yonnhy Perez tonight at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, promoter Gary Shaw says the two-time world champion will have several options.
“Vic was sensational tonight,” said Shaw. “He’s always magnificent when he’s coming off a loss. He comes back better and that’s what happened again tonight. I respect Yonnhy Perez very much for taking all of Vic’s punches, because Vic maintained he was stronger than ever and he was right. He was an animal tonight.”
Shaw says that while he plans to petition the IBF to sanction an interim title fight for Darchinyan, and in the process give him the rematch against Abner Mares he badly craves, if that doesn’t work out tonight’s performance has given the Armenian plenty of options.
“Showtime has been wonderful to Vic and have given him so many opportunities to shine like he did tonight. I think that based on his performance, not just that he won, but the excitement and the power he showed, I believe he’ll have his choice of who to fight next. Vic Darchinyan is back in a very big way.”