Vic Darchinyan vs. Evans Mbamba RBR

Round 3

Darchinyan crabs in, waving his right jab. Mbamba circles right and reaches out with a sweeping right hook, trying to set up an overhand left with it. Darchinyan is too difficult to hit, staying on the outside and moving constantly while turned in sideways. Mbamba is again hurt by a mace-like overhand left and blasted on the ropes a bit as he holds up his high guard. Darchinyan now takes his time, pecking up and down with a right jab before driving through hard and straight left crosses through Mbamba's arms. Mbamba goes to the floor, but it wasn't a knockdown. Shove/throw. Darchinyan is warned again. Both fighters warned to keep it clean. Mbamba bakcs up to the ropes and sticks his chin out defiantly as he staves off a Darchinyan body attack by pushing off with his forearms. Darchinyan jabs into the guard and keeps stalking until the bell.

30-26 Darchinyan

 

Round 4

Right jabs to the face by Darchinyan while leaning over to his left and a bit low, straining his gluts on the right. Darchinyan is coming forward and outboxing Mbamba, plain and simple. Pure ring generalship. Jabs are landing over or through the gloves as Darchinyan plays around with angles of delivery, and there is the constant threat of the overhand left if Mbamba so much as thinks about dropping the guard to get a better look and scout Darchinyan's movements. It's just cat and mouse as Darchinyan walks Mbamba around and lands as much as he can on the defensive-minded challenger. Mbamba is flailing with his own overhand left only when taking big strides back. Mbamba is hurt a couple of times by Darchinyan's lefts. Shoeshine to the pecs by Darchinyan, turning his gloves upside down.

40-35 Darchinyan

 

Round 5

Mbamba is standing his ground, throwing right hooks up into Darchinyan's face and jabbing the body. Time out. Durandt wipes some fluid off Mbamba's face. Blood? Sweat? :blood Mbamba is back to jabbing the body of Darchinyan when they call time in. Hook to the face as Darchinyan leans over to his left. Mbamba puts up the guard and Darchinyan flurries into it. Clinch. Darchinyan pushes up his right jab out of a crouch but Mbamba has it sighted and sidesteps it while slamming down on the top of Darchinyan's head with a left. Darchinyan pushes Mbamba up against the ropes and throws the 1-2 several times but is just pouring it into the forearms of Mbamba, hitting nothing else. Big effort by Darchinyan, throwing maximum power over and over again. Not landing. Crowd loving it. A few body shot by Darchinyan. Now Darchinyan pushes his right jab out into Mbamba's throat to pin him back against the ropes and works a left uppercut to the body, then whips it up and around as an overhand to the side of the skull.

That was almost an Mbamba round. His first minute and a half of work was good.

 

Round 6

Mbamba is driven back and hurt by the 1-2, thrown in pairs. Darchinyan is sternly warned for gripping Mbamba's arms. Mbamba is warned to watch his head when falling in to lean against Darchinyan. FLUSH LEFT CROSS TO THE FACE BY DARCHINYAN! It's a wonder Mbamba stood up to that when seemingly lesser shots have hurt him. Mbamba suffers another shovedown. The ref looks like he wants to kick both of them in the balls. Darchinyan pushes Mbamba to the ropes with his high oscillating jab out of a crouch. Mbamba tries to drop a right hook on the head bobbling on Darchinyan's crooked neck but can't place it. Darchinyan keeps Mbamba on the ropes with that stake of a stiff right arm, and works left uppercuts under the guard. The ref grabs Darchinyan roughly and gives him what might be a final warning about cluching Mbamba by the arms. They trade at close quarters until the bell, with Mbamba backed up to the ropes and Darchinyan right in his chest.

10-9 Darchinyan

 

:thumbsup + as much of the undercard as there is to see.