Vet Darchinyan Still Has Game, Gets UD10 Win Over Del Valle

Vic Darchinyan knew he needed a win, knew that if he wanted to stave off the end of the line, he needed to get the W over Orlandito De Valle on HBO's Boxing After Dark, which unfolded at Foxwoods in Connecticut. Now boxing at super bantam, the 36 year-old Darchinyan was seen as the scalp, the steppingstone, the potential dazzling add to the Puerto Rican's resume. He spit on that notion, and showed the kid that he needs to add to his arsenal to get to Vic's level. After ten rounds, Darchinyan had his hand raised, and showed the boxing world that he's not old news, by scores of 99-91, 99-91, 96-94.

Evil Vic (born in Armenia, living in Australia; 37-5-1 with 27 KOs entering) came in off two losses, to Anselmo Moreno and then Sin Yamanaka, in bantamweight clashes. Would he be able to right the ship?

In the first, Del Valle (16-0 with 11 Kos entering; living in NJ, from Puerto Rico) looked peppy, not long in the tooth. He looked to be the attacker, took the action to the 25 year-old early on. Vic had good luck through three and the fight was his sort of scrap, a rumble. A cut opened on the kid's nose in the third, and you know Vic liked the sight of that. He looked to counter more in the fourth, tried to make Del Valle pay for his mistakes. That he did…And sneaky headbutts also left a mark on the Puerto Rican.

“Give me the angles and move to the sides,” trainer Ray Rivera told Del Valle after the sixth. Vic's corner said to start everything with the jab, and the stoppage would come. Harold Lederman had it 6-0 to that point. A right in the seventh buzzed Vic, but he shook it off, and came back to bang. He loved the uppercut with the left hand and it scored again and again. Vic got hurt in the ninth, and he looked to hold. But he kept on raging, and both men gave a fine account of themselves in round ten.

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