Never at a loss for words or a loss of
entertaining fights, the brash talking Vic Darchinyan 37-4-1 (27) will
take his aggressive style to Japan April 6th to take on WBC Bantamweight
champion Shinsuke Yamanaka 15-0-2 (11) in search of yet another world
title. All though the "Raging Bull" is coming off a loss, the Armenian
born boxer has the belief he will come out victorious and prove the nay
sayers wrong. In this exclusive interview, Vic speaks his mind on his
career and more. Enjoy! Benny Henderson Jr.:
It has been annoucned that you will be traveling to Japan April 6th to
take on their hometown hero Shinsuke Yamanaka for his WBC Bantamweight
strap. Give the readers your thoughts on fighting Yamanaka in his back
yard?
Vic Darchinyan:
I am looking forward to traveling to Japan. I have many fans in Japan.
It has been one of my dreams to fight over there. I can’t wait to
realize my dream come true. I am training hard to put on a great show
for my fans in Japan and to make sure I win the WBC title. I think its
going to be a great fight and I have respect for Yamanaka because he is
not afraid to face me. Mr Honda could very easily taken a much easier
fight when I was told by Elias my manager that we could be fighting in
Japan I told him he was dreaming, no one would face me for their first
title defense. If it was happening in America or any where else I would
be offended because people think I could be a stepping stone but in
Japan I’m not offended because I have watched Japanese fighters fight,
they always fight the best all the time, they are warriors. I watch
fights that I don’t even know who the fighters are because I know its
going to be all action. That’s the reason there is always big crowds
following boxing in Japan because the fans want to see warriors not
people running around the ring. Its easy to run but if they want to run
go do athletics or football. Get out of the boxing ring its a disgrace.
I know that people who don’t know anything about boxing have already
said in the past Vic Darchinyan should retire after a loss. Against
Donaire everyone said Vic is finished he is too old for a lighter weight
fighter, then I became undisputed champion. After Agbeko the same
again, Vic should retire he is too old, then I won more titles. Now
after the loss against Moreno every question is about when am I
retiring. I want you to ask Yamanaka after the fight if Vic Darchinyan
should retire, because after this fight I will prove everyone wrong
again.
BH:
I have to ask this, it seems when a fighter goes into uncharted
territory facing their foe on their turf the cards are usually stacked
against them. Do you feel the hometown decision may play in his favor, I
mean, do you believe you have to knock this guy out to get the win?
VD: I believe I will always win by knockout. I went to the Philippines and
knocked down Z Gorres six or seven times and it ended up being a draw.
It was a disgrace but the only judge that thought I won was the Filipino
judge. That is what kept my faith in the sport. I train so hard not to
go out and win on points. I know I can go out and jab and run and win
every fight on points, I could have done what Moreno done and jab and
run but that’s not what our sport is about.
Why do I keep getting the big fights its
because I don’t care who I fight, if my manager told me Vic your
fighting Mike Tyson, I am fighting him. As long as there is a belt to
win I am fighting anywhere in the world. I don’t think about the
hometown decision because in my mind the knockout is going to come in
all my fights, if I didn’t think like that I will retire the next day.
This fight will have neutral judges and the WBC belt is the belt I
dreamt of winning ever since I was a kid. I have fought for the WBC belt
many times and they have some of the best officials in the sport.
BH: With your last fight not going your way, do you feel your back is against the wall and you are in a must win situation?
VD: Every fight is a must win situation. I don’t think about
losing. The only thing I think about is correcting the mistakes I make.
After the last fight I wish I adjusted and fought like he was just
scoring and running. But if I wanted to fight in the amateurs I would
have stayed there. The referee was not very good, he kept warning me not
to hit him in the back, but if the guy is turning around after throwing
a jab every time what does a fighter have to do, he warned him so he
should start taking points or he should let me hit him.
BH: All though your
opponent is undefeated, on paper you have fought the higher caliber of opposition.. So in your honest opinion, do you feel you are his toughest
test to date?
VD: I am everyone’s hardest opponent. He can’t train to fight me and I feel
sorry for Yamanaka because even I wouldn’t face me. When people start to
doubt me, I have to prove to everyone that Vic Darchinyan has plenty to
offer in boxing. My punches will be the hardest he has ever felt. Why
else do they want me to Winning Gloves because they are the softest
gloves but too bad for him because I spar in Winning 16oz gloves not 8oz
gloves like they would be in the fight and I have stopped lightweights
wearing 16oz gloves.
BH:
Looking at your spectacular career, you have seemingly done it all,
rewrote the history books etc. With all that you have done, what more is
left for you now?
VD: I want
to win more belts. The more belts the better. This is a message to all
fighters out there with belts if you want to fight Vic Darchinyan the
fight will be made. Give me more and more belts. I will fight anyone ,
any where, any time. As long as I am fighting for a belt I will be
there. Like I said before when in my head I think I cannot knock someone
out anymore and you hear me say I am going out to win on points Vic
Darchinyan will retire the next day. Until then I will be like Bernard
Hopkins, but he may retire after this fight when my brother Chad Dawson
stops him, its a very bad fight for Hopkins. Chad Dawson is one of the
best fighters in the world and he can be much better still that is
scary. My manager and I have a lot of business opportunities around the
world, I think he wants me stop now but there are so many belts to be
won and good fights to be made.
BH: Looking at your style as well as Yamanaka's, how do you two match-up?
VD: It depends if I box or decide to be a kamikaze, I am just
joking. I think it will be a good match up. I am going to test his chin,
I am going to test his body. I have seen his fights and he is very
tough and keeps coming forward that's why he has won many of his fights
by stoppage. But he has never fought anyone like me before, I just have
to be ready to change my game plan after a couple of rounds in case he
starts to run after being hit so many times. If he starts to run I will
change my plan to make sure I win the fight and not get frustrated with
throwing big punches.
I think he will be cautious early but
like Mike Tyson used to say everyone has a plan until they get hit.
Yamanaka will fight for survival the whole fight. It doesn't matter what
he does if he wants to run there is a game plan and if he wants to
engage he is going to be knocked out.
BH: What type of fight are you expecting out of Yamanaka?
VD: His team
will have a plan for him, they will watch other fights I have had and
try and do the same. They don’t realize that I lost all my fights by
making mistakes, if I lost my fights by fighting the best I could fight
then it would be okay for them to learn from other fights but I lost my
fights by fighting the wrong fight. When you try to left hook me like
Donaire look what happened to Kirilov, Mijares , Arce. When you try to
push me back like Agbeko look what happened to Perez. They are lucky I
make silly mistakes because I will always come back smarter and more
powerful. I know they will try all those things I mentioned and also
what Moreno did by running but wait and see what will happen, Yamanaka
will know about boxing a lot better after I am in the ring with him, it
will be a painful lesson.
BH: Any message you would like to send out to the fight world?
VD: Thank you to my fans and I love the
support I receive from them all over the world. I would like to
especially thank my Japanese fans, I have already received about sixty
messages from them, they have told me they will be there supporting me
in Tokyo. I have many friends and family traveling from around the
world especially from Armenia, Australia, Russia and America. Team
Raging Bull will be very loud and big in Japan on April 6th. I can’t
wait for it, I wish the fight was on right now!
