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In a Brisbane Times interview, Vic Darchinyan talked about upcoming opponent Tomas Rojas, July opponent Joseph Agbeko, and the man who handed him his first career loss in 2007, Nonito Donaire.
Against Agbeko, Darchinyan believes he made a simple tactical error:
A candid Darchinyan still believes he lost that fight due to a tactical error by trying to take out the Ghanaian with one punch rather than using the skills which overwhelmed Mexican superstars Christian Mijares and Jorge Arce in his two previous bouts.
He's 100% correct. I still think he could and should have won that fight. Agbeko had a lot of advantages, and Darchinyan made a lot of mistakes, yet it was still quite a close fight. No one argues with the Agbeko victory, but a better, smarter Darchinyan does beat him, I think. He got away from the boxing that had made his run of dominant wins over Mijares, Arce and Dmitry Kirilov so impressive, and it hurt him against a bigger guy.
December 12 opponent Tomas Rojas presents a challenge, or at least Darchinyan is giving that possibility lip service:
"He (Rojas) is much taller than me and in the last two years after Arce he has won nearly all his fights by knockout," Darchinyan told AAP.
"He was winning every round of his fight against Arce until he got hit with a good shot in the liver."
Rojas (31-11-1, 22 KO) has won most of his post-Arce fights by knockout, but it's a lot of fluff. His post-Arce record:
| Date | Opponent | Opponent's Record | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-11-24 | Marco Antonio Hernandez | 13-3 | W-UD-10 |
| 2008-07-19 | Charly Valenzuela | 14-7-3 | W-KO-3 |
| 2009-01-17 | Carlos Rueda | 11-2 | W-RTD-9 |
| 2009-03-28 | Javier Romano | 4-1 | W-KO-6 |
| 2009-07-18 | Everardo Morales | 32-13-2 | W-TKO-9 |
So, y'know, big whoop. Darchinyan-Rojas is a rebound fight to get Vic back on TV with what likely will amount to an impressive win. Rojas has lost to Gerry Penalosa, Mijares, Luis Maldonado and Anselmo Moreno, too. He will have about a three-inch height advantage, though.
So what does Vic want to do after Rojas? He wants a rematch with Nonito Donaire:
While Darchinyan's promoter Gary Shaw has consistently ruled out a rematch after an acrimonious split with Donaire, Darchinyan revealed that was no longer an obstacle.
"Gary Shaw was with me in Armenia and we talked about that and I told him how much I wanted the fight and I think he's OK with it now and he's going to make the fight for me," Darchinyan said.
If Donaire can't be tempted into a rematch, Darchinyan said he would like to challenge Mexico's WBO interim bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel.
If Shaw will sign off on it, I'm almost certain Donaire-Darchinyan can be made. This bollocks they've tried to spin before about TV networks not being interested is a pure load. Shaw has gotten Darchinyan on Showtime against far worse opponents, and even less marketable opponents like Agbeko. It's not like Agbeko was some big star, or is now. Showtime is loyal to Shaw and Darchinyan, and if they say, "How about a Donaire rematch?" it will probably happen. And considering Vic's ego got a bucket of water poured on it in July, the money probably won't be an issue now.