Darchinyan stops Arce, keeps titles

ANAHEIM, California – Australia-based Armenian Vic Darchinyan, whose only loss in his boxing career was at the hands of Filipino champion Nonito Donaire in 2007, retained his undisputed super flyweight title with an 11th-round technical knockout of Mexico’s Jorge Arce on Saturday.

Darchinyan constantly landed solid punches but Arce not only refused to go down, but waded in, trying to land blows of his own. He usually didn’t, but the champion was impressed.

Donaire won over Darchinyan with a technical knockout in the fifth round of their bout for the IBF and IBO flyweight titles in Connecticut in 2007.

Arce’s face was covered with blood and his knees were buckling as he took shots on the ropes in the closing seconds of the 11th round. The ring physician examined a gash near the fighter’s right eye and determined he should not come out for the 12th.

“He surprised me. I didn’t expect him to fight like he did,” said Darchinyan, who lost only one round on each of the three judges’ cards. “He proved to me that he was tough and a good fighter. I hit him with some good shots and he kept fighting back.”

Darchinyan retained his WBA, WBC and IBF belts, though Arce was disappointed at the fight being ended.

“I don’t know why the doctor stopped it,” Arce said through a translator. “Going into the last round, a fighter always has a chance to win.”

Darchinyan more likely would have finished him if he had answered the bell for the 12th.

“I would have liked to have knocked him out cold,” Darchinyan said. “If the fight goes on, maybe I knock him out. But it’s OK the way it ended.”

Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 knockouts) began jolting Arce with both hooks and straight punches with his powerful left hand in the first round, and continued hitting him squarely in the face the rest of the fight, mixing in a few straight rights that also found their target.

Although he was absorbing a stream of blows, Arce (51-5-1) was the aggressor most of the fight. But Darchinyan usually blocked his punches, then countered.

Two judges had Arce winning only the third round, the other had him winning the fourth.

It was Darchinyan’s second defense of his IBF title won with a knockout of Dmitri Kirillov in August last year, and the first defense of the WBA and WBC titles added with his knockout of Cristian Mijares in November. (With AP)