No Time Like Next For Donaire-Darchinyan II

By Jake Donovan

He came, he saw, he conquered the fighter put in front of him like the professional that he is.

It’s now time to start putting better fighters in front of Nonito Donaire – beginning with an old foe.

Assuming he has his arm raised in next month’s title defense on Showtime, there’s no reason why Vic Darchinyan’s next fight shouldn’t a rematch with Donaire, the first fighter to hang a loss on his career.

Surely, a song and dance will follow, along with several other reasons being offered why what others want doesn’t necessarily fall in line with what promoter Top Rank wants to give them. We’re forced to accept the carrot on the stick that has become the maturation process for what we hope to be a future showdown between undefeated featherweights Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

There are occasion where the buildup is required and the fighters you have in place are steady enough to have them meet later rather than sooner.

Then, you have situations like this, where any move other than a Donaire-Darchinyan rematch makes no sense at all for either fighter.

Donaire (23-1, 15KO) handled his end, blasting out late sub Manuel Vargas in the third round of his PPV headliner Saturday night at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The win was to be expected – Vargas was coming up in weight, in addition to accepting the fight only this past Wednesday after original opponent Gerson Guerrero was scratched due to medical reasons. But the fights still have to be played out in the ring, not just on paper. Donaire could’ve simply mailed it in and looked towards the future.

Instead, the Filipino super flyweight went about his business like the class act that he is, putting on a show for the fans and sending everyone – except Vargas – home happy with a highlight reel knockout.

The fight-ending sequence came right around the midway point of the third round. Donaire, who looked monstrous in size compared to Vargas, was landing telling blows all evening, ended matters with a picture perfect uppercut to drop the Mexican for the full ten-count.

An in-ring celebration soon followed, marking not just the win itself, but the completion of a hellish fight week that included a late change in opponents as well as admitted struggles to boil down to the super flyweight limit.

The latter part is the reason why big fights need to happen right now, not just another move up in weight and for more of the same to follow.

Donaire is well beyond the developmental stage in regards to his skill set. Many outlets have him among the world’s best, pound-for-pound, and it’s quite evident in his current 22-fight win streak that he knows his way around a ring.

If the excuse is marketability, then perhaps Top Rank needs to rethink the current business model of having him headline in-house pay-per-views.

His previous two fights before signing with the Las Vegas-based promotional outfit came on Showtime, having stopped Luis Maldonando in eight rounds, just five months after his career-best performance, starching Darchinyan inside of five rounds.

By Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum’s own admission in explaining the struggles to land Donaire a major fight, there aren’t a lot of lucrative options for fighters in the lower weight. The only two in his weight class are Darchinyan, who appears regularly on Showtime, and Arce, who is in the twilight of his career and perhaps not as eager to serve as a steppingstone for Generation Next.

A fight between Donaire and Arce would be easier to make from the perspective of both serving under the Top Rank banner. Arce is also co-promoted by Fernando Beltran, who has enough of a stake in his career to where Arum remains non-committal when asked of the possibilities of such a fight being next in Donaire’s career.

If he is to stick around at 115, the only option left would be Vic Darchinyan, which would at least allow Donaire to return to Showtime.

A rematch remained a non-starter from the moment Donaire had a falling out with former promoter Gary Shaw. The two parted ways in 2008, with Donaire sitting out most of the year, which frustrated him not only from an activity standpoint, but because it meant squandering whatever momentum was gained from defeating Darchinyan a year prior.

Shaw was hardly secretive in taking the split personal, to where the mere discussion of a Donaire-Darchinyan rematch was always immediately dismissed.

Darchinyan has managed to carve out a heck of a second career for himself in the process, earning alphabet belts and the lineal championship at super flyweight, all in 2008. He would also settle an old score with heated rival Jorge Arce. The two went back in forth in the media for more than two years before their fight finally came to fruition. Darchinyan made the most of a nearly lost opportunity, battering the Mexican for 11 rounds before forcing a cuts-induced stoppage.

With one old score settled, the question was posed about moving on to other unfinished business. Shaw shut it down, instead looking onward and upward – up, as in three pounds north to the bantamweight division. However, the plan for Darchinyan to blitz through as many weight classes as he damn well pleased was cut short on its first stop, dropping a decision to Joseph Agbeko last July.

It was at that point when the seeds were first planted for the possibility of Darchinyan and Donaire once again meeting in the ring – though it was a fight that Darchinyan himself wanted all along.

“Never once did Vic say he didn’t want a Donaire rematch,” insists Shaw, who doesn’t hesitate to accept his share of the blame for the fight not yet happening. “It was all because of me, and my hard feelings over the way Donaire left.”

Darchinyan’s career played out the way it did as a result. The fighter never once questioned the instructions he was given, instead going out there and taking care of business and then awaiting his next assignment.

Such loyalty played a big part in Shaw, never hesitant to throw his fighters in tough challenges, putting aside his own feelings and giving back to his fighter, as well as the fans.
 
“I respect Vic for respecting me and accepting other fights. I told Vic I will make the fight. I spoke to Cameron Dunkin and told him I want the fight.”

Space is being made in Showtime’s summer schedule for such a fight. The network aired their fight three years ago and is eager to invest in the rematch.

Such a fight is why Darchinyan returns to the ring on March 6, to stay on pace with Donaire. The intentions on Vic’s side are clear, with revenge serving as the proper motivator what is clearly his biggest fight for as long as the two want to remain at that weight.

The question is, how long will Donaire remain at super flyweight.

Hinting at a possible move up in weight is the closest Arum will come to committing to his future plans for Donaire.

“In this weight division, other than Darchinyan, who has been on Showtime, you don’t see any of the networks putting on the lower weight fights. In order to do a super fight, he has to move up in weight. Other than Darchinyan, there isn’t a lot of money around for a fight in the lower weight classes.”

All the more reason to move forward with a rematch.

It’s entirely possible that Arum continues to keep it in-house and still land Donaire something better than what’s been offered during his stay with Top Rank thus far. Donaire mentioned the possibility of fighting close friend and bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel, who was made quick work of Ciso Morales in the chief support on Saturday’s pay-per-view telecast.

Such a fight wouldn’t come cheap. Absence of network interest, it remains to be seen if such a fight could be made without breaking the budget normally attached to Top Rank pay-per-views.

That brings us back to Donaire-Darchinyan being the fight that makes the most dollars and sense. It appears to be the fight that, pending Top Rank’s willingness, would be the easiest to make.
 
It also appears to be a chapter in his life Donaire is willing to close before moving on to the next page.

“I used to ignore Darchinyan, but he is like a little Chihuahua who just keeps barking and barking. You just get sick of it and want to finally shut him up.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.