Yonnhy Perez no match for tough guy Vic Darchinyan
After his victory over Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan's corner people lift their hero on high. Photo credit: Ray Flores
In one of the best performances of his career, two-division world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan dominated former IBF bantamweight titlist Yonnhy “El Colombiano” Perez en route to winning a fifth-round technical decision and the vacant IBO 118-pound title, Saturday at the Nokia Theatre.
Vic Darchinyan was on the offensive from the git-go. Photo credit: Ray Flores
Darchinyan of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, improved his record to 36-3-1 with 27 knockouts while Perez of Santa Fe Springs, CA by way of Columbia, fell to 20-2-1, with 14 KOs, after losing his second consecutive start.
Darchinyan, a southpaw, was in command from the outset scoring a knockdown in the second round and was ahead 50-44 on all three scorecards when the one-sided slugfest was halted due to an accidental head-butt at 1:44 of the round.
“Perez suffered from an arterial bleed,’’ explained the fight doctor. “One of his blood vessels had been cut and it was pumping directly into his eye. He (Perez) gave no indication he wanted to stop.”
Vic Darchinyan (l) was in attack mode from the very outset. Photo credit: Ray Flores
By winning a fight elevated to main event status after the Joseph Agbeko versus Abner Mares fight was postponed, Darchyinan sets himself up for a possible rematch with Mares. Agbeko suffered what doctors diagnosed as likely the sudden onset of sciatica earlier in the week.
It also means the crowd-pleasing Darchinyan will likely get another appearance on Showtime. Saturday was his thirteenth appearance on the network. He’ now No. 3 on the all-time list for network appearances and if he keeps it up he’ll soon overtake the frontrunners Julio Cesar Chavez and Evander Holyfield who have 17.
After the fight quote from Darchinyan: “At this point I’d fight anyone in the division. I’d like to fight Mares if he’d fight me. If not, I’ll fight Nonito Donaire. If they won’t fight me, I’ll move up to another division.”
Perez offered no excuses after suffering his second consecutive defeat. “I’m disappointed the fight ended this way. My head feels fine. I would have continued had the referee not called the fight. The knock down was legitimate; he caught me. I will now head back to Colombia, relax and regroup and then decide the next move in my career.”
On the undercard:
At 42 years of age, every fight is a must win for Darryl Williamson.
Heavyweight DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson (27-6-0, 22 KOs) who stands 6’4” tall and hails from Aurora, Colorado, TKO’d Michael Marrone (19-3-0, 14 KOs) of Vero Beach, Florida at 2:30 of the seventh round. At 42 years of age, Williamson has led a fascinating life. He’s performed as a standup comic, after graduating from Wayne State, he was given an opportunity to try out for the Indianapolis Colts at quarterback, he holds a Masters degree, plus he was quite successful as an amateur boxer (120-17-1, 103 KOs) – a Golden Gloves champion (1996, 1999), AAU Champion (1996, 1997, 1998), and 10 time National Amateur Champion.
Light welterweight Omar Figueroa of Weslaco, Texas (11-0-1, 8 KOs) TKO’d John Figueroa of Salinas, Puerto Rico (7-10-3, 3 KOs) at 2:05 of the second round of their eight rounder. John Figueroa has now lost 8 of his last 9 bouts.
Art "Lion Heart" Hovhannesyan (13-0-1, 7 KOs)
Light welterweight Art “Lion Heart” Hovhannesyan of Glendale, CA by way of Armenia (13-0-1, 7 KOs) TKO’d Jose Alfredo Lugo (11-16-1, 5 KOs) at 1:57 of the fifth round of their six rounder.
Super featherweight Azat Hovhannesyan, little brother of Art Hovhannesyan, lost his pro debut to lightweight Juan Reyes (2-0-1) of Bell Gardens, CA. The bout went the full four rounds with Reyes being awarded an unanimous decision.
Super flyweight Miguel Diaz of Allentown, Penna. (5-0-0, 3 KOs) defeated 23 year-old Alejandro Solorio of Huntington Park, CA (4-4-0, 3 KOs) by winning an unanimous decision in their four rounder.
Tuesday April 26, the Darchinyan/Perez fight will re-air at 10:30 p.m. PT on Showtime.
