Vakhtang "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan appreciation thread.

mckay_89 · Mar 10, 2018

The Mijares fight made me a fan. I was a huge Diamanté fan and had him pegged as the next p4p number 1 after his performances in the lead up to the fight. He had such a pleasing, technical style. All I really knew about Vic at that point was that he'd been a title holder at fly and could punch but he had a crude style and had been eviscerated by Donaire. I wasn't aware of the Kirilov and Gorres fights at 115 at that point and had figured he'd gotten by at flyweight simply by being bigger and stronger than all his opponents before running into an equally big punching, strong and technically far superior Nonito. Whilst I knew Mijares wasn't a puncher, I figured he was the bigger man, having fought at 115 a lot longer, and I rated his skills above even Donaire at that point. I was convinced a 120-108 shut out was on it's way. How wrong I was.

pipe wrenched · Mar 10, 2018

IntentionalButt said: ↑

You know something? I really disliked him, in Vic's heyday. He grew on me, though - kind of a decade-long slow-burn.

Originally he was just an entertaining fighter (if a technical disaster and coach's nightmare) in the ring, and equally as entertaining caricature of a trash-talking mouthpiece outside it - but not somebody I rooted for, per se. Nor against, per se. He just seemed a blowhard in love with his own power. I'd tune into his fights with no real emotional investment. So when a then still relatively unknown Filipino counter-puncher (with stylistic attributes more akin to many of my favorite boxers of all time) by the name of Nonito Donaire nobly avenged his brother Glenn's defeat & transformed himself into a star with an epic check hook against Darch, it pleased me. The story didn't end, there, however. Things quickly took a turn. Enraged, the Bull went on a tear, jumping up to super flyweight and venting his frustrations on the division's upper tier. He felt compelled to first target & thrash a countryman of Donaire's to exorcise those demons. Poor little Federico Catubay. But after ravaging the hapless journeyman, the Armenia-Aussie's blood-thirst wasn't sated - and that's when 2008 happened:

First, in February, he saw fit to invade the Philippines to rough up yet another of Donaire's countryman, the beloved Z Gorres, in front of a hostile crowd in an IBF title eliminator. Darchinyan fought hard & dirty, trading knockdowns (both officially ruled & dismissed as slips) with Gorres and causing the initial brain-bleed that would eventually halt Gorres' career and render him effectively invalid for much of his subsequent young-to-middle adulthood. I had seen Gorres in a few of his appearances on US soil. I liked Gorres. I was horrified to see the powerful southpaw contentedly & with no compunctions, repeatedly wail on Gorres after stunning or momentarily freezing him with headbutts/rabbit punches/low blows...and even more horrified to learn of Gorres' condition afterwards.

Then, exactly six months later, he fought another pure technician, one I had seen even more of than Gorres (having also campaigned in the US a few times, and recently fought in the co-main event with Holyfield vs. Ibragimov) and of whose ring craft I was decidedly a fan. Unfortunately, this is right around when Floyd Mayweather Jr. was peaking in popularity and everyone and their mother saw fit to emulate his style. The seasoned Russian amateur, who knew better, caught the fever and started carrying his left hand low. Darchinyan spotted the opening and barraged it with nonstop torpedo left hand leads, and that was that. A more skillful boxer, whom I'd been hoping would be able to outbox & tame Gorres' injurer, got easily dominated and KTFO. C'est la vie...

Then on November 1st came the ultimate transgression. A little background: Cristian Mijares was at that particular moment probably my favorite active fighter and climbing ever higher on my personal contemporary p4p list. I cautioned the Arce hype brigade that he was liable to get the "Jeff Lacy" treatment when underestimating the obscure Mexican with the low KO rate, and lo and behold, it happened...and there was bragging. Mijares of course was "punished" for upsetting the marketable house fighter, and was invited onto HBO airwaves just once in his next five matches (the rest taking place in Mexico), third-billed on the Pavlik vs. Taylor II PPV, behind another super flyweight title bout. He unified the WBC and WBA titles in this period, consistently showing a dazzling ability to slip & counter, anticipating his opponents' every move. He was firmly solidified as my idealized version of a pure textbook pugilist by late 2008. I was heading up the El Diamante hype train and shouting from the mountaintops for anybody that would listen what a special talent he was. Fellow stylists couldn't outpoint him. No puncher could touch him. And then... he got utterly dismantled by a crass, arrogant southpaw with apparently limited fundamentals and this awkward, crab-walking style, who entered a 3-1 underdog.

Needless to say, the hype train never recovered (although Mijares did quietly rebuild his good name via longevity and consistent performances against solid opposition while climbing up in weight; still, he would never regain the stature in the sport held in 2007/2008) and I vowed never to forgive Darchinyan.

Joe Agbeko, then Abner Mares, then Anselmo Moreno, and then Shinsuke Yamanaka became personal heroes when each defeated him over 12. After that, however, something changed. His next four losses - all by KO - weren't anywhere near as satisfying, beginning with the Donaire rematch. I think my sympathy began to grow because Darchinyan had already begun to look a shell of himself versus Yamanaka, so much so that he was a diminished-value trophy and, in my view, kind of a cherry-pick for Donaire at that stage of their respective careers. So, when Darch mounted a valiant effort in the middle rounds and unexpectedly gave his old nemesis some problems (albeit briefly, until succumbing in the 9th), I found myself actually...kind of rooting for him? Could it be?

Then in what has become all too familiar a tale of brutal matchmaking in a former champion's twilight days, he was tossed in directly on the heels of Donaire II with the much larger, undefeated puncher Nicholas Walters. I was kind of a Walters skeptic from the start and was sure the hype bubble would burst sooner than later, but he was clearly too much for Darchinyan at that point. Sure enough, battered him, and kayoed him in 5, although the ornery Aussie bravely got off the canvas a few times before going out cold on his shield.

I actually was pretty high on Jesús Marcelo Andrés Cuellar, another big strong featherweight whom I liked quite a bit more than Walters, but when he picked at the bones of the Raging Bull it was by then, for me, a non-creditable achievement. The fact that Vic managed to win two rounds on my card (and those of all three judges) made it a moral victory for him.

Weird how time can soften even the bitterest of grudges. With how much I loathed him for that run in 2008, you'd think seeing him passed around to be used hard and stopped at higher weights might've given me some vindictive sadistic delight. It didn't.

In hindsight, too, I'm more able to appreciate what he brought inside the ring. His style was, though admittedly quite dirty at times, unique and rather startlingly effective during his prime in the fly range. While he eschewed all the "correct" principles of stance, movement, and offensive approach, he managed to connect big while (mostly, outside Donaire having the measure of him with that star-making check hook) taking little punishment in return...and he always had an excellent chin to fall back on as his 2nd line of defense after his off-putting, unorthodox gorilla posture (and equally simian manner of ambling).

His trash-talk was also pretty mint. Remember him calling out Jermain Taylor - without a hint of irony - to meet, "mano a mano, champion vs. champion" when they wore the IBF/IBO flyweight and WBC/WBO/lineal middleweight straps, respectively? This was actually quite a clever dig, at both the futility of chasing the peers in or around his division that he considered to be ducking him (most notably Jorge Arce) plus a sly dig at Taylor having the reputation of spending his reign (before Pavlik) luring smaller men up to middleweight to bully them with size. He was a nut, and had I not been so anti-Vic in those days it might've registered just how damn funny he was.

Anyway, he's still as of this moment technically active - having fought one year ago tomorrow (meaning he's still within the grace period to remain in the rankings of BoxRec and every major sanctioning org) but with nothing scheduled and whatever rankings he did hold at featherweight (probably quite low; BoxRec places him 70th in the world) there would seem to be little point in banging on at the age of 42. He doesn't completely rule it out in recent interviews, but there is little of his old confident bluster in the "maybes". He's more likely going to start promoting and training younger fighters in Oz. Hopefully with an emphatic "do what I say, not what I did" so his charges don't rush out and get themselves hurt aping his mannerisms.
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First off.. what's up brotha?

Awesome post man! Walk down memory lane! I agree with almost all of it word for word ... Except i was an Acre man...haha

His "style" was something to behold (ibrings to mind how I also liked to watch the Sam Soliman "drunken sailor" out there ). I did jump to my feet cheering when Nonito annihilated him with one shot.

Well written, enjoyed that post :good

IntentionalButt · Mar 10, 2018

pipe wrenched said: ↑

First off.. what's up brotha?

Awesome post man! Walk down memory lane! I agree with almost all of it word for word ... Except i was an Acre man...haha

His "style" was something to behold (ibrings to mind how I also liked to watch the Sam Soliman "drunken sailor" out there ). I did jump to my feet cheering when Nonito annihilated him with one shot.

Well written, enjoyed that post :good
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@pipe wrenched holy mackerel...how/where have you been?? Not seen much of you in the post-Ghost era.

baha74 · Mar 10, 2018

Nice post, thanks for taking the time. I loved Vic and the entertainment value he bought with him. I would constantly be found yelling at the tv begging him to throw a jab or set something up. When he (very occasionally) decided to box a little, he actually looked really good and could outbox many, but alas no... fresh out of the corner telling him to throw a jab, almost every punch for the round would be some wild, swinging shot lol. But the adrenaline rush it gave the fans when it would land..

Great effort Vic. Achieved so much, probably could have had a little more with less stubbornness but no doubting his gift to the fans!

pipe wrenched · Mar 11, 2018

IntentionalButt said: ↑

@pipe wrenched holy mackerel...how/where have you been?? Not seen much of you in the post-Ghost era.
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Well, let's say when everything first changed I was open for the "check hook"...lol

Feeling drawn home now tho ...

seymour dough · Mar 11, 2018

I didn't know Vic fort one year ago,certainly an entertaining fighter will a throw back mentality of ill fight any man

IntentionalButt · Mar 16, 2020

Vic's nephew Arman just qualified for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, upsetting Italian middleweight Salvatore Cavallaro at the Copper Box Arena in London.

Tony Yoka's little brother Viktor is also set to compete for a spot on the same card.

Forza · Mar 16, 2020

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always loved his HL reel

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Vakhtang "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan appreciation thread.

mckay_89 Haw you! Full Member

pipe wrenched ESB ELITE SQUAD Full Member

IntentionalButt FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA Full Member

baha74 Member Full Member

pipe wrenched ESB ELITE SQUAD Full Member

seymour dough Member Full Member

IntentionalButt FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA Full Member

Forza Obsessed with Boxing Full Member