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Boxing: Patient Darchinyan breaks through

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  • Boxing: Patient Darchinyan breaks through

    Press-Enterprise (subscription), CA
    June 4 2006

    Patient Darchinyan breaks through
    IBF Flyweight Title: A solid 1-2 combination helps him stop
    Maldonado.



    10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, June 3, 2006
    By DAVID A. AVILA
    The Press-Enterprise

    LAS VEGAS - Eager to show that little guys can pop, Australia's Vic
    Darchinyan used his powerful left hand to stop Mexico's Luis
    Maldonado in a world flyweight title bout at the Thomas and Mack
    Center on Saturday.

    AP photo

    A sparse audience of about 2,900 people -- the scheduled main event
    between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo was called off Friday
    -- saw IBF champion Darchinyan crank it up slowly against Maldonado
    (33-1-1, 25 KOs), who switched from right- to left-handed style
    constantly in the battle between undefeated 112-pound fighters.

    "My trainer told me to be patient," said Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs),
    who fights out of Sydney, Australia. "I didn't use my left hand until
    the sixth round."

    In the sixth round a left hand behind the ear and a slight push
    forced Maldonado to a knee. Referee Joe Cortez called it a knockdown.

    Maldonado tried to use a body attack to weaken the Armenian from
    Australia, but had limited success. In almost every exchange
    Maldonado got the worst of it.

    "He's too strong," Maldonado said. "You can't tell where the punches
    are coming from."

    After the knockdown Darchinyan began to slip into a more aggressive
    gear.

    "I didn't want to rush, but I knew I could knock him out," Darchinyan
    said, who is trained by former Aussie great Jeff Fenech.

    A solid 1-2 combination snapped Maldonado's head back and Darchinyan
    moved in quickly with more wallops. Cortez decided it was too much
    punishment and stopped the fight at 1:38 of the eighth round.

    Darchinyan wants to meet the other flyweight titleholders or move up
    to heavier weight divisions.

    "I'd like to unify the titles, but I don't mind moving up to junior
    bantamweight or bantamweight," Darchinyan said.

    Other bouts

    Former Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs) stormed out of the
    corner and stopped Oscar Gonzalez (9-5-1, 3 KOs), of Florida, in 2:14
    of the first round. Three successive uppercuts dropped Gonzalez for
    the first knockdown, then a straight right hand finished the job in a
    junior middleweight bout.

    Las Vegas boxer Jose "Little Bazooka" Magallon traded knockout blows
    with Mexico's Abraham Esquivel for all four scheduled rounds. It was
    only surprising that no one hit the canvas in the bantamweight
    contest. The judges scored it 40-36, 39-37 twice for Magallon
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