By Ian S Palmer
The StubHub Center in Carson, California, will be the site of the WBA World Featherweight title contest between champion Jesus Cuellar of Argentina and challenger Vic Darchinyan of Armenia this Saturday, June 6. The fight will be televised live by NBC across Canada and America as part of the Premier Boxing Champions Series. Darchinyan, who is a former two-division champion, now fights out of California after being based out of Australia for several years.
The 28-year-old Cuellar enters the ring with an impressive record of 26-1 along with 20 Kos while the 39-year-old Darchinyan is now 40-7-1 and has 29 Kos to his name. Cuellar obviously has a lot of power in his fists and also has a big age advantage as he’s 10 years younger. The champion had a fine amateur career who turned pro back in 2008 and has fought 134 pro rounds since then. His only defeat came in 2011 at the hands of Oscar Escandon via a seventh-round TKO. His biggest win was a second-round stoppage over Juan Manuel Lopez last September.
Darchinyan has fought 332 rounds since turning pro back in 2000 and has faced numerous top-ranked opponents over the years. He has an exciting style and leaves nothing in the ring. He has a lot of heart, but this has sometimes resulted in him being stopped. His pro defeats have been against Nicholas Walters, Nonito Donaire twice, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Anselmo Moreno, Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko. Donaire stopped him in both of their fights and Walters also stopped him. Due to his advanced age and the wars he’s been through, he’s definitely facing an uphill task against the hard-hitting Cuellar. He’s also dropped four of his past seven outings as he’s simply run out of steam at this stage of his career.
Cuellar throws a lot of punches per round and while he’s not the most accurate fighter, his volume output is a big bonus. He doesn’t just go for the big shots either as he has a fine jab and likes to use it to set up his attack. Darchinyan doesn’t throw that many punches these days as he’s slowed down from his heyday. He doesn’t utilize his jab as often as he used to as he prefers power shots. Cuellar’s Ko ratio currently stands at 74 per cent while Darchinyan’s is 60. The biggest physical difference in this fight is in the reach department. They both stand just over 5-feet-5-inches tall, but the champion has a 71-inch reach while Darchinyan’s is 64.5 inches. Both boxers are also southpaws.
Prediction
Cuellar has an excellent record, but hasn’t really faced too many Grade A fighters during his career up to now. Darchinyan has been in with the best and if he was a decade younger would be the favourite here. However, his chances of winning will simply depend on his ability to handle Cuellar’s power. If he can stand up to the champion’s heavy artillery he’ll take a decision. If he can’t, then he’ll be stopped. At this stage of Darchinyan’s career it may be a case of the latter.
