Vic Darchinyan was in attendance at the L.A. Matadors fight this past Sunday night, and I thought this would be a good time to talk with him about his upcoming fight with Yonnhy Perez.

“I’m ready for this fight and I think it’s going to be a great one,” he said. I’m ready physically, and I’m going to show that I’m very strong. My opponent is a busy fighter, a good fighter who throws many punches. But in the first round I’m going to go for a knockout.”

Darchinyan would rather fight a challenger who brings it to him. “I love to show my power. I like to show my skills, because I have very good skills, too. But I like to show my opponent my power.”

I asked him what he changed this time in his training program after suffering a loss in his last fight with Abner Mares in order to be effect against Perez. “Last time I made a mistake,” he told me. “I wanted to show my skills. I like to do that, but for this fight I’m going to show I’m powerful.”

Darchinyan is a natural southpaw, and he feels that while he has power in his right, his left hand is stronger. He was asked about his style of fighting. “Well, you know, it’s something different. When I want to punch I’m thinking differently. Like I can punch maybe 10 times in a row with only one hand, the left, then pick up my hand and jab, you know, something different.”

It was also mentioned that even his stance is different. “Unique stance, right? That’s why I love it!” he laughed.

For almost his entire career, Vic has fought all his fights at Flyweight. Recently, he has only had two fights in the Bantamweight division. He was asked about fighting there, and if he always thought he would be in that weight class. “Well, I always knew I wanted to move up,” he replied. “I always wanted to be the World Champion in many divisions. That’s why after this fight I think I’m going to move up again. I want to move up to 122 and fight for the title, and keep going. I think I can go to 126 as well.”

The Darchinyan/Perez fight is part of the card of what was supposed to be the Bantamweight Tournament Finals, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. But as of this writing the other main fight on the card between Mares and Joseph Agbeko has been canceled. Agbeko had to pull out after collapsing with what was called “sudden onset sciatica”. Whether the Darchinyan/Perez fight will continue or the entire card will be postponed is still not clear.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for all of the players involved, and I hope something will be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.


Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.