By Francisco Salazar
Look for Vic Darchinyan to return to the ring sometime this spring, manager Frank Espinoza told Boxingscene.com over the weekend.
Espinoza is targeting late March or April as the realistic timetable when Darchinyan returns to action.
“Vic is back home in (Sydney) Australia, where his wife is expecting early next month. After his wife gives birth, he will fly to Southern California and start training for his next fight.”
The Armenian-born Darchinyan (39-6-1, 28 KOs) last fought on November 9th, when he fought Nonito Donaire in Corpus Christi, TX in a rematch of the July 2007 bout.
While a majority of media predicted Donaire to win, it was Darchinyan who was the effective boxer during most of the scheduled 10 round bout. In fact, Darchinyan was up on two of the judges’ scorecards (78-74) before he was stopped in the 9th round.
“Vic gave a very good account of himself against Nonito,” said Espinoza, who also manages Abner Mares, Daniel Ponce De Leon, and Diego Magdaleno amongst others.
“He’s 38 years old and he wants another opportunity at a big fight. I thought his performance in November merits another opportunity at a world title.”
Espinoza focused on one fighter amongst the world title holders in the featherweight division.
“I’m hoping we could make a fight against the Mexican-Russian (Evgeny Gradovich). I know it’s the type of fight Vic will be very motivated for. Stylistically, I think it’s a great fight for the fans.”
A fight between Darchinyan and Gradovich could happen. Both fighters are promoted by Top Rank, but Darchinyan would have to move up to the featherweight limit as he has fought his most recent bouts at 122 pounds.
Both train in Southern California and are familiar with fight fans in the area.
Gradovich is coming off a technical knockout victory over Billy Dib on November 23rd in Macau, China. There is no specific date as to when Gradovich will fight again, although he is also rumored to return to the ring sometime in the spring.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Knockout Nation, and RingTV. He could be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on twitter at FSalazarBoxing