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The Australian, Australia
Dec 18 2004
Fenech's man champion
By Petr Kogoy
A FIREWORKS display interrupted yesterday's flyweight world title
fight in Florida, but when the smoke cleared Australia had a new
world champion.
The Jeff Fenech-trained Vic Darchinyan claimed the IBF flyweight
title with an 11th-round knockout win over Colombian Irene Pacheco.
The contest was even after nine rounds before officials took the
unusual step of stopping the bout after the fireworks display.
Following a 10-minute delay, Darchinyan came out in the 10th round
and dropped Pacheco for the first time in the fight with a left hand.
Pacheco, 33, took a mandatory eight count, got up and made it to the
end of the round. He was dropped again in the 11th round with another
pile-driving left hand. Then Pacheco's corner called a halt.
Darchinyan's win took his record to 23-0, with 18 knockouts.
Darchinyan became Fenech's first boxer to win a world title.
"I've finally got the monkey off my back," Fenech told The Weekend
Australian.
"I went into the fight with a plan for Vic and it worked. The
Colombian took a lot of punishment before he hit the canvas the first
time in the 10th.
"The straight left Vic threw at him in the 11th that finally ended
the fight was a piledriver. The punch would have stopped a raging
bull in its tracks."
Born and raised in Vanaezor, Armenia, Darchinyan was spotted by
Fenech at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
"I've waited for this chance a long time," Darchinyan said.
"While I'm proud of my Armenian heritage, I am also proud to be a
naturalised Australian.
"I'm so happy, having my girlfriend Olga Stovvoun in my corner
tonight.
"This is a dream come true for me. I've been a fighter for 20 years.
But I knew if I wanted to win, to beat Pacheco, I needed to throw
more punches. He proved to be a tough and very strong opponent."
Meanwhile, Kostya Tszyu's manager Matt Watt yesterday questioned the
professionalism of promoters Frank Warren and Vlad Warton after
continuing conjecture about a fight between the IBF super-lightweight
champion and mandatory contender Ricky Hatton.
Watt and Tszyu have spent two weeks denying the Australian-based
fighter has signed to defend his title against Hatton in Manchester
next year.
However, Warren insists he has a deal with American pay television
network Showtime for a fight between Tszyu and Hatton in April or
May.
Bombarded by calls from Australian journalists seeking confirmation
of the fight, Watt has repeatedly said Tszyu has yet to sign a deal.
English promoter Warren has been dealing with Tszyu's American-based
promoter and former manager Warton, but neither has had any recent
contact with Watt.
Watt said he had not held any discussions with Warren and it had been
at least three weeks since his last conversation with Warton,
although in that time there had been "written correspondence of a
very generic, non-specific nature" between them.
Watt said he was waiting for Warren or Warton to explain why it made
sense for Tszyu to fight in the challenger's backyard at a proposed
local time of 4am to accommodate American and Australian television
schedules.
Dec 18 2004
Fenech's man champion
By Petr Kogoy
A FIREWORKS display interrupted yesterday's flyweight world title
fight in Florida, but when the smoke cleared Australia had a new
world champion.
The Jeff Fenech-trained Vic Darchinyan claimed the IBF flyweight
title with an 11th-round knockout win over Colombian Irene Pacheco.
The contest was even after nine rounds before officials took the
unusual step of stopping the bout after the fireworks display.
Following a 10-minute delay, Darchinyan came out in the 10th round
and dropped Pacheco for the first time in the fight with a left hand.
Pacheco, 33, took a mandatory eight count, got up and made it to the
end of the round. He was dropped again in the 11th round with another
pile-driving left hand. Then Pacheco's corner called a halt.
Darchinyan's win took his record to 23-0, with 18 knockouts.
Darchinyan became Fenech's first boxer to win a world title.
"I've finally got the monkey off my back," Fenech told The Weekend
Australian.
"I went into the fight with a plan for Vic and it worked. The
Colombian took a lot of punishment before he hit the canvas the first
time in the 10th.
"The straight left Vic threw at him in the 11th that finally ended
the fight was a piledriver. The punch would have stopped a raging
bull in its tracks."
Born and raised in Vanaezor, Armenia, Darchinyan was spotted by
Fenech at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
"I've waited for this chance a long time," Darchinyan said.
"While I'm proud of my Armenian heritage, I am also proud to be a
naturalised Australian.
"I'm so happy, having my girlfriend Olga Stovvoun in my corner
tonight.
"This is a dream come true for me. I've been a fighter for 20 years.
But I knew if I wanted to win, to beat Pacheco, I needed to throw
more punches. He proved to be a tough and very strong opponent."
Meanwhile, Kostya Tszyu's manager Matt Watt yesterday questioned the
professionalism of promoters Frank Warren and Vlad Warton after
continuing conjecture about a fight between the IBF super-lightweight
champion and mandatory contender Ricky Hatton.
Watt and Tszyu have spent two weeks denying the Australian-based
fighter has signed to defend his title against Hatton in Manchester
next year.
However, Warren insists he has a deal with American pay television
network Showtime for a fight between Tszyu and Hatton in April or
May.
Bombarded by calls from Australian journalists seeking confirmation
of the fight, Watt has repeatedly said Tszyu has yet to sign a deal.
English promoter Warren has been dealing with Tszyu's American-based
promoter and former manager Warton, but neither has had any recent
contact with Watt.
Watt said he had not held any discussions with Warren and it had been
at least three weeks since his last conversation with Warton,
although in that time there had been "written correspondence of a
very generic, non-specific nature" between them.
Watt said he was waiting for Warren or Warton to explain why it made
sense for Tszyu to fight in the challenger's backyard at a proposed
local time of 4am to accommodate American and Australian television
schedules.