Darchinyan impressively retains belts, stops Arce after 11

Posted: Sat Feb 7 11:42 PM

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Vic Darchinyan held on to his WBC, WBA and IBF super flyweight titles on Saturday, pounding former two-time belt-holder Jorge Arce into a technical knockout following the 11th round.

Darchinyan (32-1-1), whose only loss came to Nonito Donaire in July 2007, lived up to his nickname of "Raging Bull" by continuously moving forward against Arce without much concern for the challenger's power.

The Armenian-born Australian was the aggressor in each round, but a game Arce (51-5-1) continued to counter and was never knocked down despite being on the wrong end of countless left and right hooks.

Both sluggers lobbed verbal jabs at each other in the days leading up to the fight. It appeared as though the outcome would come down to the scorecards after an entertaining opening three rounds, namely the third which featured a barrage of haymakers from both fighters.

The left-handed Darchinyan, though, kept up his crushing pace throughout the middle rounds, landing straight shots and uppercuts to the face of Arce, who had cuts over both eyes by the sixth round.

Arce's legs were visibly wobbly and his offense was almost nonexistent as the fight wore on. After the 11th, the doctor came to Arce's corner and determined he could not go on, leading to a joyous Darchinyan celebrating in the center of the ring.