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Boxing South Africa: Darchinyan - Sikali Set for Clash Down Under

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  • Boxing South Africa: Darchinyan - Sikali Set for Clash Down Under

    The Sweet Science
    Monday Mar 21, 2005

    It matters little who sits in the corner, as it will be up to the two
    warriors in the middle of the ring who determine who takes this one.

    Boxing South Africa: Darchinyan - Sikali Set for Clash Down Under

    by Deon Potgieter

    South Africa and Australia have been archrivals for many years
    and whenever these two countries go up against each other in any
    sport there is added interest in what will transpire. Even though
    IBF flyweight world champion Vic Darchinyan is of Armenian decent,
    he now fights out of Australia, and when he climbs into the ring to
    defend his title on March 27 against South Africa's Mzukisi Sikali,
    there's going to be fireworks.

    Sikali, the current IBO flyweight and former WBU junior fly and
    super flyweight world champion, is a seasoned professional who has
    come through the school of hard knocks to get where he is today. His
    scarred face and gritty looks reflect that he is by no means a man
    to take lightly - and it's unlikely that the champion would do so.

    Darchinyan (22 wins with 17 KOs), who is trained by hall of famer
    Jeff Fenech, stopped the highly rated Irene Pacheco in 11 rounds to
    claim the crown on December 16 and will be looking to celebrate his
    newfound stardom in front of his "home-crowd" in Home Bush, New South
    Wales Australia.

    Fenech is no stranger to South Africa and has brought a number of
    his charges to the southern most tip of the continent in hopes of
    furthering their careers. Many of them have been against boxers trained
    by Harold Volbrecht, who also trains Sikali. Fenech has not had much
    success against Volbrecht's charges, but that could all change with
    the Darchinyan-Sikali encounter.

    Few local pundits give Sikali a chance against the champion. Although
    Sikali has always been respected, he is known to drift from the
    garden path on occasion and is not always totally committed to his
    fistic career. Sikali does, however, have an abundance of talent and
    possesses a huge arsenal, boasting almost every shot in the book. If
    he's fired up and remains focused he has the ability to upset anyone
    in the division.

    To many people's surprise, Volbrecht, who battled to inspire Corrie
    Sanders in his clash with Vitali Klitschko, has had a tremendous
    influence on Sikali thus far, and this partnership looks to be one
    of those exceptional ones where trainer and boxer flourish in each
    other's company. Whether the 33-year-old Sikali (29 wins, 5 losses,
    2 draws with 17 KOs), who is looking sharp in training, still has
    the legs to claim a fourth world title remains to be seen. The fact
    that he will be facing another southpaw in his quest will also add
    an interesting dimension to the fight.

    Nobody likes fighting southpaws, especially other southpaws. Finding
    the perfect trainer to coach a southpaw to fight a southpaw, one
    need look no further than Volbrecht. He is a southpaw who twice
    challenged for the WBA welterweight world title and holds a national
    record for defending his South African welterweight title a total of
    19 times. With more opportunities at the right times in his career
    there is no doubt he would have claimed a world title. Amongst his
    past charges of the have been former two-time junior lightweight world
    champion, Brian Mitchell, former two-time heavyweight world champion
    Corrie Sanders, former welterweight world champion Jan Bergman,
    and former two-time cruiserweight world champion Sebastian Rothman,
    to name a few.

    Fenech also has a well documented pedigree, but in the end it matters
    little who sits in the corner, as it will be up to the two warriors in
    the middle of the ring who determine who takes this one. Both have 17
    KOs to date and methinks this one will end with one of them having 18.
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