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Vic Darchinyan added to his collection of belts this morning, winning the minor IBO bantamweight title be winning a unanimous decision over Eric Barcelona. "Raging Bull" scored two knockdowns, and Barcelona was also docked two points for low blows, resulting in very lopsided scores of 120-103, 118-105 and 116-108.
Darchinyan fought despite having a broken left hand. Darchinyan confirmed after the fight that he broke the hand while sparring against Lovemore N'Dou several weeks ago. There has been no word on whether he further damaged the hand during the fight, or whether it will delay his next defense.
Darchinyan moves to 35-2-1, and earns his first win at bantamweight. In his first attempt to move up in weight class, he was beaten by Joseph Agbeko in a title bout. Darchinyan should be staying at 115 for now, but at least he has his toe in the water at 118. Barcelona drops to 51-18-4, and preserved his streak of never getting knocked out in a pro bout.
On the undercard, prospect Will Tomlinson and former title challenger Naofel Ben Rabah both scored wins over lesser opponents.
In Thailand, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym successfully defended his super bantamweight title, beating Shoji Kimura by fourth round knockout. After the fight, according to Boxing Scene, Kratingdaenggym announced that he has signed a U.S. promotional contract with Golden Boy, and is targeting a fight on U.S. television in the near future. To do it, he may end up moving up to a stacked featherweight division, specifically targeting former titlist Steven Luevano. Generously listed at 5'4 1/2" (he was listed at 5'3" until recently), we'll see if the featherweight division plays up to his strengths.
Still, this is good news. Getting more exciting fighters on the tube is always a good thing. Now he just needs a snappy, pronounceable nickname. Any suggestions?