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Boxing: In The Ring, Vic Darchinyan Is A Different Person

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  • Boxing: In The Ring, Vic Darchinyan Is A Different Person

    IN THE RING, VIC DARCHINYAN IS A DIFFERENT PERSON
    Kevork Djansezian

    Los Angeles Times
    http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/l a-sp-boxing31-2008oct31,0,3703572.story
    Oct 31 2008
    CA

    IBF champion Vic Darchinyan, above, will fight WBC/WBA champion
    Cristian Mijares in a super-flyweight match on Saturday at the Home
    Depot Center.

    The IBF super-flyweight champion is remorseful for what happened to
    Victor Burgos after pummeling him, but his mentality hasn't changed for
    his upcoming bout against Cristian Mijares at the Home Depot Center.

    By Lance Pugmire October 31, 2008

    Under the same spotlights and on the same canvas that he'll perform
    Saturday night, Vic Darchinyan last year nearly beat a man to death.

    Darchinyan, constantly flinging a punishing left hand that his promoter
    calls a "whipping hammer," knocked down Mexico's Victor Burgos once
    in the second round of their March 2007 flyweight title fight at the
    Home Depot Center in Carson. He pummeled Burgos so badly in the 12th
    that the referee stopped the fight and Burgos slumped trying to rest
    on a stool.

    Hours later, Burgos had emergency brain surgery to remove a blood
    clot from his head. He remained comatose for days from what Armando
    Garcia, the California State Athletic Commission executive officer,
    described as "a boxing-related accident."

    Southern California boxing publicist Alex Camponovo, a friend of
    the Burgos family residing in Tijuana, said Burgos is "still in
    rehabilitation. He has had to re-learn everything. How to walk. How
    to talk."

    Darchinyan on fight night was denied an opportunity to visit his fallen
    opponent at the hospital, but he has followed Burgos' progress from
    a distance.

    Darchinyan, 32, an Armenian who resides in Australia, said, "I called
    through my promoter and heard he's getting better. I found out he's
    OK. I was very happy."

    This is the part of boxing that is nearly impossible to balance,
    especially for a fighter.

    "You know, it's boxing," Darchinyan said. "There's two guys in the
    ring, and if you don't punch him, he'll punch you, and the same thing
    that happened [to Burgos] can happen to you. At the end of the day,
    I'm concerned with my opponent, and I want him to be able to go home
    to his family, not to the hospital.

    "But in the ring, I want to destroy him."

    Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 knockouts) doesn't hesitate to say that's
    his plan Saturday when he returns to Carson as International Boxing
    Federation super-flyweight champion to fight Cristian Mijares
    (35-3-2, 14 KOs), the World Boxing Council and World Boxing
    Assn. super-flyweight champ.

    Mijares, a popular fighter from Mexico, is a slight favorite over
    the southpaw Darchinyan.

    "I'm going to press him, push him around, punish him, and knock him
    out," Darchinyan said. "I'm going to destroy him."

    If it sounds insensitive, that's because Darchinyan is in fight mode,
    promoter Gary Shaw said.

    "He's remorseful about Burgos, he was truly concerned and worried
    about what happened, but when it comes to fighting, Vic's a different
    person," Shaw said. "He really wants to hurt the opponent. All he
    thinks about is winning, winning by knockout and hurting the opponent.

    "No one wants to make someone incapacitated, or ruin that person's
    family. Believe me, I've seen bad things happen in the ring, and I was
    sick to my stomach over Burgos, but there's two Vics at work here. I
    eat all my meals with him, and I already know tonight's dinner speech:
    'I'm going to break [Mijares] in half. . . .' "

    Darchinyan is 2-1-1 in the four fights post-Burgos. He was knocked
    out by Nonito Donaire and lost his IBF flyweight title in his first
    bout after the Carson victory. He rebounded in August to win the
    super-flyweight belt with a fifth-round TKO of Dimitri Kirilov.

    Now, he faces Mijares, a savvy, technical fighter who boasts
    convincing victories over Jorge Arce and former U.S. Olympian Jose
    Navarro. Darchinyan predicts a knockout by the third round.

    "I don't want to go to the hospital again, but I will knock him out
    cold -- and destroy him," Darchinyan said.
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