Yahoo! Sports boxing analyst Kevin Iole's latest focuses on the Darchinyan-Arce fight from the other night, and his feeling that fights as one-sided as that one should be stopped sooner due to the fact that getting hit in the head a lot can lead to problems down the line.

It's insensitive to disagree, but I think it's too much to generalize every "one-sided," "all but over" fight as one that should be stopped sooner. Darchinyan was giving Arce a schooling, but really didn't beat him up all that badly. If you want to argue that it WAS too bad, that's your opinion, but I think going by "punishment taken" is kind of a weird grey area, too.

What about a great, back-and-forth war like the Vazquez-Marquez fights or Gatti-Ward or Barrera-Morales? Do those fights, because they're competitive, become less dangerous to the fighter's health? In every one of their fights, both Vazquez and Marquez took way more brutal punishment than Arce did the other night.

It's a tough discussion, and referee Dr. Lou Moret has been criticized by some for not being able to keep up with the fight, but I think he did OK for the most part. Fighter safety is very important, but the harsh truth is nobody walks away from a productive boxing career in great shape, and that's just kind of how it is. Arce has been beaten around far worse in fights he's won than he was against Darchinyan.

If you start painting with too broad a brush, you're gong to have some really bad decisions. That's my only concern.

I think this was the most interesting thing Iole covered, though, which is Bob Arum being upset with the Arce corner:

“I wasn’t concerned about [the number of punches] he was taking, though I will admit he clearly lost the fight,” Arum said of Arce. “He doesn’t know how to fight a left-hander. Someone has to teach him. He didn’t do [well] with [Cristian] Mijares, and he didn’t do it here.

“He’s a gutty guy, and considering he has no clue how to fight a left-hander, I think he did well to stay in there. … I talked to them about it before the fight, and they told me they were teaching him and this and that. But he was moving the wrong way. It’s basic boxing. Give him a training camp with someone like Freddie Roach, who I think is the best trainer, and it’s a different fighter.”

Jorge Arce, one of boxing's most colorful and entertaining characters, sounds like he may be contemplating retiring from boxing.

While Arce said that he wished he had gone all 12 rounds last night in his loss to Vic Darchinyan and that he feels good aside from the usual bumps and bruises, he is now heading to Miami to embark on a cruise with his family, where he'll stop in Puerto Rico and look to meet up with "good friends" Miguel Cotto and Ivan Calderon.

He does say he'll come back and fight, but added "at least one more time."

Arce, 29, does look like he's pretty quickly declining after years of vicious battles and a good amount of hard beatings, often even in victory. He seemed wobbly-legged in his outstanding fight against and win over Rafael Concepcion last September, and had little to offer offensively that would deter Darchinyan, only occasionally trying to mix it up with the powerful Armenian, and looking fearful of the titleholder's power at times, which has never been something Arce did in the past.

Many warrior boxers have hit the wall around Arce's age. It would be no surprise if last night was his final big-time fight. No matter what happens from this point on, and no matter how you personally feel about Arce and his goofy antics, he's a fighter to be remembered and respected.

The Anaheim Undercard

On the untelevised portion of the card last night, four fighters stayed unbeaten. Most notably, top prospect Vanes Martirosyan (23-0, 14 KO) won an eight-round decision over Billy Lyell (18-7, 3 KO), with a performance described by BoxingScene.com's Luis Sandoval as "flat."

Heavyweight Travis Kauffman improved to 16-0 with a first round knockout of journeyman Cliff Couser, who has looked totally uninterested in fighting the last couple times I've seen him and apparently did in this bout, too. Kauffman's knockout was his 13th.

Chris Avalos (9-0, 7 KO) stopped Torrance Daniels (12-9-1, 5 KO) in the eighth and final round of their fight, and Houston's Omar Henry improved to 3-0 with a first round knockout of Francisco Martinez.

Now that Vic Darchinyan has walked through Dmitri Kirilov, Cristian Mijares and Jorge Arce in his last three fights, it's not a question of whether or not Vic is back on the pound-for-pound lists, because he absolutely is. He has dismantled all three opponents, put the loss to Nonito Donaire solidly in the rearview mirror, and now there is only one question.

How high in weight can Darchinyan really go?

Like a tiny version of Wladimir Klitschko, Darchinyan hasn't won the Ring Magazine championship at 115 pounds, but he's holding three of the alphabet soup titles and is unquestionably the division's top man. We know he wants a rematch with Nonito Donaire, who is looking to perhaps move up from 112 himself, but we also know that Darchinyan's promoter Gary Shaw isn't going to let that happen.

Unless Darchinyan feels any real need to avenge a draw against Z Gorres, the cupboard is fairly bare at 115 as far as top opponents go. Alexander Munoz is only a name in Japan, really, and he lost to Mijares in his last fight anyway. There are a lot of good fighters, but if you ask me from watching Darchinyan's last three fights, none that are going to give him any real challenge.

Does he go up to 118? Fernando Montiel has, and Shaw has mentioned Montiel as an opponent for Darchinyan. 118 has other intriguing opponents, such as Gerry Penalosa, Hozumi Hasegawa, Joseph Agbeko, Anselmo Moreno, and a few others. But there's been no talk of anyone there besides Montiel.

The next step up is 122 pounds, where some of the sport's top pound-for-pound fighters ply their trade. Darchinyan has repeatedly said he wants to fight Israel Vazquez (with whom he has sparred in the past) and Rafael Marquez. It might sound a little crazy, but in truth it's probably not, partly because both of those fighters appear to have taken serious damage from their three unbelievable wars. I say that because we've seen neither of them in the ring since last March, and nothing is on the table for either man.

There are others at 122. Juan Manuel Lopez is a crushing puncher. Can Darchinyan handle a guy like that? I know 5'7", 122 is a small man in the real world, but to Darchinyan, that's the biggest guy he's ever fought. What about 5'11" freak of nature Celestino Caballero? Former titlists like Daniel Ponce de Leon, Jhonny Gonzalez and Steve Molitor are at 122, as well.

The cautious observer would say Darchinyan should take it easy, and speculate that 122 is probably the absolute highest he could ever go. Former flyweight Darchinyan would be "just too small."

Maybe not. Look, I'm not going overboard here, either, so bear with me. The first major title that Manny Pacquiao ever won was the WBC flyweight title. Pacquiao started his career as a fighter in the 108-pound division. Darchinyan's amateur background is very real. Pacquiao never had that.

Don't forget there was a time when the current pound-for-pound king was just some high-energy slugger out of the Philippines that made for exciting fights. Pacquiao eventually became the well-rounded fighter he is today. Darchinyan, in going back to his amateur roots to some degree, is a much better overall fighter than he was a couple of years ago.

Like Pacquiao, Darchinyan also has guts in spades and is always on the hunt for a great challenge. I'm not saying he's Pacquiao. What I am saying is that given his improvements and his brave nature, I'm not ready to place any limits on how high in weight Darchinyan might be able to take himself.

We will have much, much more tomorrow on tonight's highly enjoyable Showtime card, but for now let's sum it up quickly.

Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KO) stopped Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KO) at the end of 11 rounds, dominating the fight and outclassing the tough Mexican challenger to retain his WBC, WBA and IBF junior bantamweight titles.

After the fight, Jim Gray interviewed Vic Darchinyan to the dismay of us all, and asked Darchinyan if he would like a rematch with Nonito Donaire. Before Darchinyan could even answer, obnoxious Gary Shaw jumped into the conversation to put the kibosh on that idea because of Donaire's "disloyalty." Whatever, Gary; maybe you should've gotten him some fights and not treated him like a red-headed stepchild for beating the hell out of your favorite fighter.

Shaw said he could get Darchinyan a fight with Fernando Montiel (who has moved up to 118 pounds) or 122-pounders Israel Vazquez or Rafael Marquez. Darchinyan badly wants a rematch with Donaire, for the record.

Arce complained of illegal blows from Darchinyan, but said he'd like a rematch. There's no point. Arce got smoked.

In a competitive, entertaining undercard fight, Antonio DeMarco got a medical stoppage over Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov after nine rounds when Raiymkulov apparently had suffered a broken nose. Lots of hard shots landed in that fight, which was probably the better of the two for the night, though Darchinyan-Arce had some flashes of being the fight it could've been a few years ago.

Again, come back tomorrow for much more, and for a look at what Darchinyan could move on to do next.

The show starts at 9pm ET on Showtime, and this one should be an action-packed war for as long as it lasts. Bad blood has been brewing here for over two years, and neither Darchinyan nor Arce are exactly known for holding back on fight night.

We'll be here with live, round-by-round coverage and scoring of both fights tonight, live on Showtime. Tell your neighbors, and click that "Buzz Up!" icon at the bottom of the post, too.

This thread will be bumped back up to the top near fight time, but it's open now for BSing, picks, whatever you guys wanna do.

Jorge Arce and Vic Darchinyan (via sports.sho.com)

As always, odds are taken from the sportsbook at Bodog.

Vic Darchinyan is the favorite over Jorge Arce, but the book doesn't have him as quite the overwhelming choice that most boxing fans and writers do. Conventional wisdom says Darchinyan eventually hammers Arce down, but conventional wisdom also said Darchinyan would be dominated by Cristian Mijares.

Vic is a -400 favorite, with Arce as a +300 underdog. I really think Arce is a bit underestimated in this fight. I'm not going to call the upset like I did with Vic over Mijares, but I really don't think this will be quite the landslide it's being made out to be by most.

Arce has a much bigger frame than does Darchinyan, and even though most think Arce is on the downside of his career after so many wars, and he's absolutely had trouble with southpaws of late, I think he presents some challenges for Vic. The last time we saw Darchinyan face a guy that can punch, he got his head knocked off.

That's not to say Arce has the speed of Nonito Donaire, but he's quicker than Vic, even now. Still, Darchinyan at -400 is a pretty solid bet.

On the Showtime undercard, Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov is at -205 over Antonio DeMarco (+165). Not a fight I'd touch. Diamond's shining career moment was his performance against Joel Casamayor in 2005, when he drew Casamayor in a fight many felt he won. His next time out he got his ass kicked by Nate Campbell, and he's really never been the same guy that fought Casamayor. He was given a massive gift on Versus in '07 against Miguel Huerta (in an odd coincidence, that would've been the 2007 Robbery of the Year if not for Casamayor's decision win over Jose Armando Santa Cruz) and fought twice in 2008, beating scrub Leo Martinez in June and taking a majority decision over Javier Jauregui in September.

DeMarco (19-1-1, 13 KO) is stepping up in class from the likes of Jose Reyes and Juan Castaneda. We'll see what he has. Too many X-factors in terms of putting money down in my view.

In Germany, Ruslan Chagaev is the massive favorite (-1100) over lame duck injury comeback challenger Carl Davis Drumond (+600).  On the undercard, Andriy Kotelnik (-160) is a slight favorite against murderous Argentinian puncher Marcos Rene Maidana (+130). There could well be money to be made there.

Speaking of Argentinians, Omar Narvaez (-500) is a big favorite over Rayonta Whitfield (+350), who is both going up against a heck of a good fighter and going on an extreme road trip. He'll have to do something really amazing to win down here.

Anthony Mundine (-1000) is a massive favorite against his latest daunting challenge, Shannan Taylor (+600). That fight will take place on February 11.

You know, I'd ignored with all the hoopla going on, something key that might be saving Jorge Arce's bacon as we speak.

Javier Capetillo, the suspended trainer of Antonio Margarito, had been working with Arce in recent fights, but given the scheduling conflict and the fact that he wanted to train in Toluca, Arce went back to trainer Tiburico Garcia for his fight on Feb. 7 with Vic Darchinyan.

Had Arce kept Capetillo as a cornerman and tried to work out a training camp that included Capetillo, he'd be without a trainer for his upcoming fight right now. Sort of lucky.

Arce (51-4-1, 39 KO) and Darchinyan (31-1-1, 25 KO) are on a collision course that has been talked about for a couple of years now. Before the fight could be made before, Arce was obliterated by Cristian Mijares in April 2007.

Since that one-sided loss, Arce has gone 5-0 (4). He stepped up to 118 pounds for two nights, knocking out Tomas Rojas on a body shot and drilling Medgoen Singsurat in the first round. Since coming back to 115, he's won a majority decision over Devid Lookmahanak, stopped Rafael Concepcion in a Mexican Independence Day war, and then two months later knocked out Isidro Garcia.

Right now, Arce's on a roll. But Darchinyan is red-hot.

Darchinyan's first career loss came at the hands of Nonito Donaire in July 2007. Vic's lights were turned off by one of the most perfect left hook counters you'll ever see, but it wasn't a one-punch deal. Donaire was smoking Darchinyan for the entire fight before putting him to sleep in the fifth round.

Like Arce, Darchinyan has rebounded. He jumped from 112 pounds to 115, and has gone 3-0-1, with his draw coming against Z Gorres, which has been disputed by many who saw the fight. In his last two fights, he has manhandled Dimitri Kirilov and the same Mijares that bloodied and blasted Arce for 12 rounds. Darchinyan was a big underdog in that second fight, but he shook Mijares up and knocked him down in the first round, and every moment of the fight was his until it was stopped in the ninth.

Right now, conventional wisdom says that Arce, an old 29 compared to Darchinyan's rather young 33, will get hammered by the powerful, confident Darchinyan. But the last time Darchinyan came into a fight overconfident, he got his ass kicked.

The trash talking has been legendary. It seems like a fight where the two men genuinely don't respect one another. Both are notorious loudmouths, and this is a press conference match made in heaven -- or hell, depending on your point of view.

Said Arce, "He thinks he's an intimidator. He always tells people what he will do and they get intimidated. But, I'm not that type of guy. His words won't affect me. He can say and talk about what he is going to do to me in the ring, but I'm not going to fold. I'm a bigger guy than him. He won't intimidate me."

"I don't care. I'm going to knock him out," replied Darchinyan.

A conference call was the source of more great quotes.

From Arce: "I'll give them blood. I don't mind getting some blood in there. If I get blood on me, I love that. It gets me motivated and gets me excited and more aggressive."

And from Darchinyan: "I want to play with him like a cat plays with a mouse. I'm going to show him how dumb he is. I'm going to punish him."

Darchinyan is even talking about finishing Arce off: "On February 7th you won't be able to hide behind a phone or your manager's skirt, it will only be you and me. It's taken three years for you to have the balls to face me, maybe your manager wants one last payday from you. Enjoy your last fight!"

However long it lasts, it's going to be a good one.

Source: Dan Rafael

After a couple of years of trash talking, both sides saying they wanted the fight, and a couple of losses on either side delaying anything serious moving forward or getting signed, the long-awaited guaranteed slugfest between Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce has been signed.

The bout will take place on February 7 on Showtime.

Darchinyan will defend his unified junior bantamweight titles against Arce at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 7 in the season premiere of "Showtime Championship Boxing."

"I think it's a spectacular fight," Darchinyan promoter Gary Shaw said. "The press conferences may be as good as the fight. I can't wait for both the press conferences and the fight."

Darchinyan, an Armenian living in Australia, and Mexico's Arce had been building toward a match last year as they trash-talked each other and stoked fan interest.

There are some fighters and some matchups that cannot be less than absolutely excellent TV. These two guys always bring action, and they seem to genuinely dislike one another, to boot. Darchinyan's destruction of favored Cristian Mijares has thrown him back into the spotlight, and the popular and flamboyant Arce has done nothing but win since beating Mijares, though anyone but Arce will tell you he's certainly slowed a bit.

Still, the slowing of Arce has not removed him from his spot on the sport's ten biggest action stars, a list for which Darchinyan is a staple, too. Arce, for me, regained his action stardom for sure during his wicked slugfest with Rafael Concepcion in September.

It should be a hell of a fight, for as long as it lasts. And I wouldn't expect it to last too long. These guys are going to throw bombs.