Vic Darchinyan on Joseph Agbeko: "King Kong" Will Become a Chimpanzee

Stoker by Senior Writer Written on July 01, 2009
LAS VEGAS - OCTOBER 07:  Vic Darchinyan celebrates his 6th round TKO victory over Glenn Donaire during the IBF/IBO Flywieght Championship bout on October 7, 2006 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

“I think after this fight they are going to change your name to Joseph ‘Chimpanzee’ Agbeko."

Those were the fighting words from two-division world champion Vic "Raging Bull" Darchinyan directed at Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko when two of the hardest-hitting bantamweight boxers in the world participated in a media conference call to discuss their upcoming fight to be held in Sunrise, Fla., on Jul. 11.

Agbeko, of Accra, Ghana, and now fighting out of the Bronx, N.Y., has an alphabet title and has also knocked out more than 81 percent of his opponents.

Yet, Darchinyan, 32-1, 26 KOs, of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, is right behind him at 76 percent.

Suffice it to say that this fight may not last long.

Darchinyan was in fine form at the conference, doing his smack-talking best to get under the skin and gain a psychological edge over his opponent

"This is going to be the biggest mismatch. Where would you like me to hurt you most? In the body or in the face?" stated Darchinyan—who took full advantage of the media  exposure to hurl his usual plethora of insults.

“I hope you are working hard and training extra hard for this fight. I don’t want it to be another easy fight for me. I want to be your nightmare after this fight and not before because I want you to get a good night’s sleep," Darchinyan said.

A victory over Agbeko would award Darchinyan his fifth major world title belt, and would also make him a three-division world champion, charting him on a steady course in his quest for all-time boxing greatness.

Someone once said that an overwhelming desire to succeed, a huge ego, and an abundance of self-confidence are the three main ingredients needed in the recipe for success in the fight game.

If so, then Darchinyan's well on his way to the summit.

The 33-year-old boxer seems—at last—to be entering his prime boxing years, and is attempting to climb to cross divisional stardom in the same fashion as Filipino great Manny Pacquiao.

Darchinyan is a crowd pleaser, a tough, and highly entertaining fighter who possesses an exciting "go for broke" style with crippling power, especially in his left hook, which comes out of a crouch position.

However, he does have a loss, a one-punch left hook KO from Nonito Donaire—in July of 2007; that single misfortune is one that many fans and critics refuse to let him forget.

When faced with that rematch question—which is often—Darchinyan's response is always basically the same: “I can’t spend my career just defending, defending, defending. I have to move up in weight and go after more titles. I have the power to demolish anyone. I’m going to keep moving up.

As you can see, Darchinyan intentionally avoids the question.  And, if he happens to not find enough excuses, no worries, his promoter Gary Shaw is right there to help him out by adding more:

"There is absolutely no point in us fighting Donaire, there is no money in it, who would buy it? Somebody would need to pay the freight, and I don't know who that would be," said Shaw.

As a result of the loss to Donaire, when Darchinyan next squared off with tough Mexican Cristian Mijares three fights later, many fight fans saw him as a definite underdog.

Darchinyan sent notice to his detractors, and proved the critics dead wrong by administering a one-sided beating to Mijares, which started by flooring him in round one and completely dominating him for the the next eight rounds, ultimately stopping his battered opponent in the ninth.

Darchinyan then became a man on a 115 lbs. mission, and planted himself firmly on The Rings pound for pound list by hospitalizing and thoroughly destroying—the dangerous but fading—Jorge Arce in his very next outing.

Now, even though King Kong is his opponents nickname—it's Darchinyan who is thumping his chest and being outright braggadocios.

“I’ve seen Agbeko’s fights and they don’t impress me. You will see, nothing compares to my power. I will knock him out with my power. I can open my jaw and let him punch it and he still won’t hurt me."

If this fight lives up to Darchinyan's expectations, we can expect a thrilling, yet short fight, which will include a boxer nicknamed King Kong being gored by an Armenian Raging Bull.

I wouldn't want to miss that.


"I once saw George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won."

—Muhammad Ali

Vote Now! - Author Poll

WHO DO YOU LIKE?

  • DARCHINYAN
  • AGBEKO
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Results - Author Poll

WHO DO YOU LIKE?

  • DARCHINYAN

    81.8%
  • AGBEKO

    18.2%
  • Total votes: 22
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written on July 01, 2009 Preview/Prediction

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