Vic Darchinyan retained his WBC and WBA super flyweight titles by dominating a young Rodrigo Guerrero for twelve, one-sided rounds. The official scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 120-108. Guerrero, 22, entered the bout having only fifteen fights as a professional. On the other hand, Darchinyan came into the fight having thirty six professional bouts, and compiled a record of 11-2, 10 KO's in world title bouts. This fight was Guerrero's first world title bout. Guerrero also only competed in 20 amateur bouts, while Darchinyan fought in 170.
From the opening bell, Darchinyan showed the young, Mexican warrior his power by repeatedly landing his straight left. In the first round, Darchinyan landed a solid right hook. Then, Guerrero went after Darchinyan's body, but Darchinyan kept firing his straight lefts, connecting with two of them just as the bell rang to end the round.
In round two, Darchinyan continued to be assertive, landing his straight lefts after Guerrero unleashed his punches. Guerrero seemed frustrated, and could not get his punches off first. Darchinyan started to land his right hook followed by his straight left in round three. After getting hammered with straight lefts from Darchinyan, Guerrero momentarily switched to a southpaw stance. However, Guerrero switched right back to a conventional stance when Darchinyan hit him with more flush shots. Toward the end of round three, Darchinyan staggered Guerrero with a short, left uppercut.
In round four, Guerrero suffered a cut above his right eye. Darchinyan continued his violent assault on Guerrero, but Guerrero was taking his punches. Guerrero was just not throwing enough or had the power to stop the relentless attack of Darchinyan.
Darchinyan started to connect with some blistering left uppercuts in the middle rounds. Guerrero was displaying a valiant effort, although he was getting a real beating from Darchinyan. Guerrero's punch output steadily declined and in the seventh round, Darchinyan hit Guerrero with a crushing straight left that sent Guerrero's mouthpiece flying in the air.
It became quite clear by round eight that Guerrero was not going to defeat Darchinyan. Guerrero could not figure out Darchinyan's awkward, southpaw style. Nevertheless, Guerrero kept coming forward and was doing his best. His corner should have considered stopping the fight, although Guerrero was so determined to capture his first world title. As the fight got into the later rounds, Darchinyan continued to strike Guerrero with very clean punches.
In the twelfth round, Darchinyan forcefully tried to knockout Guerrero. Yet, Guerrero managed to finish the fight on his feet after absorbing some rock-solid right hooks, straight lefts and left uppercuts. At 34-years-old, has Darchinyan lost some sting on his punches? Or was the younger Guerrero extremely durable?
With the victory, Vic Darchinyan improves his record to 34-2-1, 27 KO's, while Rodrigo Guerrero falls to 13-2-1, 9 KO's. If Darchinyan cannot attain a rematch with Nonito Donaire at 115 lbs., he may move up to the bantamweight division for his next fight. In 2007, Donaire knocked out Darchinyan in the 5th round.
(Lenny Zappavigna Pictured Above)
In a highly competitive lightweight bout, Australian Lenny Zappavigna (23-0, 15 KO's) won a controversial unanimous decision over Fernando Angulo (22-7, 14 KO's). The official scores were 114-113 and 116-111 twice, which was clearly absurd.
In the early rounds, Zappavigna viciously attacked Angulo's body, and was successful landing a few overhand rights. On the other hand, Angulo set up his punches behind a stiff, left jab. Whenever Angulo threw his jab, it significantly neutralized Zappavigna's onslaught. Still, Zappavigna connected with a hard, overhand right over Angulo's jab in round two, but Angulo started placing his shots more accurately later in the fight.
In round three, Zappavigna hurt Angulo after landing a brutal left hook to the body. Both fighters continued to trade shots. During the exchange, Zappavigna landed the best punch when he connected with a solid left hook to the head.
Angulo really started to find his range by round four. He absorbed the punches better, which became evident when Zappavigna started to suffer swelling under his eyes. By round six, Zappavigna was not throwing as much. Zappavigna never displayed much of a jab in the early rounds, and totally abandoned it by the middle rounds. As a result, Angulo hit Zappavigna with a stinging left jab and got his punches off first. In round seven, Angulo landed a sharp, right uppercut in close range.
After landing a series of left hooks, Angulo opened up a small cut much wider above Zappavigna's right eye in the eighth round. By now, Angulo was landing many more punches. In round nine, Zappavigna countered with a right after one of Angulo's jabs. Angulo kept attacking, landing counter rights followed by a left hook. Toward the end of round ten, Angulo hurt Zappavigna with a left hook to the head, and buckled him with a hard right hand.
Both men engaged in another heated exchange in round eleven. Angulo landed a left hook to the head, but was countered by a left hook to the body by Zappavigna. Then, both men traded overhand rights.
Zappavigna came on strong in the round twelve. Yet, Angulo caught him with steady jabs, rights and left hooks.
While Zappavigna gave a spirited effort, he did not control the majority of the minutes in the rounds. Yes, Zappavigna was aggressive and fought courageously, but he did not land the more damaging blows in the bout, as it was apparent when looking at the faces and condition of both men after the fight. Without a doubt, Angulo controlled the pace for much of the fight by working behind his jab. When Angulo jabbed, Zappavigna was a fighter relying on pure aggression and nothing more. Zappavigna's attack was visibly neutralized anytime Angulo jabbed. Mostly, the competitiveness in the bout resulted from Zappavigna lunging forward and attacking when Angulo momentarily stopped jabbing. Zappavigna may have been awarded a victory against Angulo, but he will need a strong presence of a jab to be successful in the future. Zappavigna will not be able to walk through opponents on natural strength and heart alone, which was obvious tonight.
