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Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

November 1, 2008

Home Depot Center-Carson, California

There has been heavy rain in the greater Los Angeles area all day and more is expected over the arena during this event. Therefore, attendance at this show is limited to a few hardcore fans. The official number is 3,076, but some of them may be disguised as empty seats.

1. WBO NABO Super Middleweight (168 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Andre Dirrell (16-0, 11 KO's,167.5 pounds) vs. Victor Oganov (28-1, 28 KO's, 167.5 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Andre Ward, who vacated the title following an injury he suffered playing pick up basketball this summer.

Dirrell had a stellar amateur career boxing career that was capped by winning the bronze medal for the United States at 165 pounds at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games.

The Olympian is developing a reputation of being a Tim Sylvia level boring boxer. He has tremendous skills, but seems unwilling to use them in matches against over-matched opponents. HBO wanted to make him a featured boxer on the undercards of their HBO Boxing After Dark events. However, he was so boring in winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Curtis Stevens on June 16, 2007 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut that the network abandoned those plans. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/5/preview-of-andre-dirrell-vs-mike-paschall.html

Dirrell's last match was a technical knockout victory via a cut at 1:32 of round 4 over Mike Paschall on August 2, 2008 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Paschall was brought in on short notice to lose in exciting fashion to Dirrell. However, Dirrell scored a single punch knockdown when he cut Paschall, but was boring the rest of the match. Dirrell had even lost 1 of the first 3 rounds on all of the judges scorecards to a boxer who had never had a match outside of Maryland.

Dirrell is unranked by The Ring magazine, and the number 12 ranked boxer in the world at 168 pounds by boxrec.com.

Oganov had a solid amateur career compiling a record of 64-16 for his native Russia.

This is his third match in the United States. He is 1-1 in the United States, with the loss coming by technical knockout at 1:25 of round 9 to Fulgencio Zuniga on September 1, 2007 at the Emerald Queen Casino. That match was for also for a relatively minor vacant belt at 168 pounds, but with a win in this match he will become the mandatory challenger for a major belt in this weight class.

Now residing in Australia, Oganov's last match was a knockout victory at 2:38 of round 2 over Peter Kariuki on April 4, 2008 at Shark Park in Townsville, Queensville, Australia.

Oganov is unranked by The Ring and the number 16 ranked boxer in the world at 168 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 26-years-old, Dirrell is 6 years younger then the 32-year-old Oganov. Dirrell holds the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Oganov stands 5' 8.5" tall. The American has the reach advantage with a 74" wingspan, compared to the 68.5" wingspan of Oganov. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but Dirrell should be the much heavier boxer in the ring. Oganov will employ the orthodox stance. Dirrell will primarily employ the southpaw stance, but will switch frequently during the course of a match.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. All of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from California. The referee is Ray Corona.

Dirrell put on a show pounding on Oganov in round 1. The 2004 Olympian easily takes round 1, 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round, and would have been, but Dirrell stopped working in the last 30 seconds or so of the round. This seemed to be because he was having problems with his trunks or cup riding up or out of place causing the boxer a great deal of discomfort in his man region. Dirrell wins round 2 in impressive fashion, 10-9. This is the exciting Dirrell people have been waiting years to see. With 2:34 to go in round 3, Oganov pushes down on the head of Dirrell and the 2004 Olympian goes to a knee on the mat. The referee correctly rules it a slip. The action is quickly resumed with 2:30 to go in the round. Dirrell is too fast and too slick defensively for Oganov. The American wins round 3, 10-9. It seems like Dirrell is landing every punch he throws. A combination from Dirrell in the final 10 seconds of round 3 cut Oganov open. It was probably a left uppercut from the southpaw that caused the blood to begin flow heavily from above Oganov's right eye. Oganov's cut man did a terrible job administering to the cut between rounds and it is bleeding just as badly when the bell sounds to start round 4 as when the bell sounded to end round 3. That cut is bleeding directly into Oganov's eye. He is going to have problems seeing Dirrell's punches coming and Oganov was already unable to get out of the Olympian's punches. At 2:58 of round 4, the referee immediately calls time before the action can start to have Oganov's cut examined. The doctor says Oganov is okay to continue and the match is quickly resumed. The referee has ruled that the cut came from a punch. Therefore, a premature stoppage from the cut would give Dirrell another technical knockout victory via cut. With 1:42 to go in round 4, Oganov hammers Dirrell with a left hand to the groin and the American drops in agony to a knee on the mat. Dirrell grabbing his cup from his knee begins to plead with the referee that he was dropped by a low blow. The referee agrees and lightly warns Oganov. Strangely, instead of giving Dirrell the usual 5 minutes to recover from being fouled, he is ordering the boxer to immediately return to action. Dirrell is still in a great deal of pain and struggling to get his breath back, but must return to action with 1:35 to go in the round. Oganov has begun to pour on the offense on the illegally weakened Dirrell. Then, Dirrell pushes Oganov away to create some space to work with his longer arms with 41 seconds to go in the round and the referee gives Dirrell a stern warning for pushing. The referee says the next push will cost Dirrell a point. Dirrell overcomes the abysmal refereeing to still win round 4, 10-9. After 4 rounds, Dirrell leads on my scorecard, 40-36. All of the press keeping unofficial score of this event for Showtime from ringside have Dirrell ahead after 4 rounds: 40-36, 40-36, 40-36.

The referee has the doctor stand in Oganov's corner during the break between rounds 4 and 5. That way the doctor can immediately check the cut above Oganov's eye when the bell sounds to start round 5 to see if the boxer is fit to continue. The doctor checked the cut over Oganov's eye at the start of round 5 and ruled the boxer is fit to continue. Dirrell is leaning on Oganov with 49 seconds to go in round 5, but then the Russian born boxer moves and the American finds himself kneeling on the ground. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is quickly restarted with 43 seconds to go in the round. Dirrell wins round 5, 10-9. Dirrell is starting to look tired. With 2:32 to go in round 6, the referee has waved off the match for no apparent reason. He has declared Dirrell the winner via technical knockout, but Oganov was not hurt at the time of the stoppage. That is baffling. The crowd is booing. The referee is apparently stopping the match, based on an accumulation of punches. However, Oganov was not taking a combination or anything severe at the time. He had been hit a lot in the match, but that was a terrible stoppage.

The official outcome from the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr.: at 28 secondsof round 6 the referee has called a stop to this contest making the winner by technical knockout, still undefeated, and the new WBO NABO Super Middleweight Champion, Andre "The Matrix" Dirrell. The win moves Dirrell to 17-0 with 12 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Dirrell in his post match interview said nothing of note.

The referee in his post match interview that Oganov took a studder step following a punch from Dirrell. That caused him to stop the match so Oganov was not hurt. The crowd in the building was able to hear this interview and booed it.

Dirrell was dominant in this match and finally appeared to be the exciting boxer fans have wanted him to be. At the time of the stoppage all of the judges had Dirrell winning every round and one of them did give round 1 to Dirrell, 10-8. This win has made Dirrell the mandatory challenger to the winner of the Dennis Inkin vs. Karoly Balzsay match scheduled for January 10 in Germany. That long delay will probably force Dirrell to take a tune-up match against a weak opponent on Showtime, before he gets his title shot in April or May.

Oganov could not match the hand speed of Dirrell and at 32-years old still has not beaten a top opponent. Even though the referee stepped in too early, Oganov probably would not have lasted much longer with the 2004 Olympian. Oganov is probably going to return to Australia and continue defeating mediocre 168-pound boxers.

2. IBF Junior Bantamweight/WBA/WBC Super Flyweight (115 pounds) 12-Round Championship Unification Match:

Cristian Mijares (36-3-2, 15 KO's, 115 pounds) (WBA/WBC Super Flyweight Champion) vs. Vic Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 KO's, 115 pounds) (IBF Junior Bantamweight Champion)

Mijares won the interim version of the WBC Super Flyweight Championship when it was vacant via 12-round unanimous decision in a match with Katsushige Kawashima on January 3, 2007 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Mijares' belt was eventually upgraded to the full version of the title when the previous champion, Masamori Tokuyama, vacated the belt to retire. Counting the defenses of the interim belt, Mijares is attempting to make his ninth defense of this belt.

Mijares won his WBA title from Alexander Munoz via 12-round split decision on May 17, 2008 at Auditorio Centenario in Gomez Palacio, Mexico. This is Mijares second defense of this title.

Darchinyan won his IBF title in his last match from Dimitri Kirilov via knockout at 1:05 of round 5 on the same August 2 show that featured Andre Dirrell's last match. Darchinyan, who unlike most Eastern European boxers are very strong technically, is a fundamental mess. He at times circles his hands in cartoonish fashion like Popeye does after eating spinach. Darchinyan's defense is many times poor to non-existent. However, in his last match against Kirilov he showed good head movement and counter punching in the first few rounds. Then Darchinyan felt he was in complete control and went back to being the same boxer that was the victim of The Ring's 2007 Knockout of the Year. Darchinyan became the wild brawler and finished Kirilov with a reckless overhand left that Darchinyan never saw land. That was because the punch was above his own head and simply thrown without aiming. However, with Darchinyan's amazing punching power even those reckless punches he does not aim can score knockouts. The entire recap of that event can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/6/showtime-championship-boxing-recap.html Darchinyan is making his first defense of this title.

Mijares is a hero in Mexico. He is set to start an acting career and embark on several other major projects outside of boxing in is native country. As Mijares walks to the ring, men pull him out of the aisle to hug him and women pull on him to kiss him.

The double champion's last match was a technical knockout victory at 1:05 of round 3 over Chatchai Saskul on August 30, 2008 at ArenaMonterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.

Mijares is The Ring's number 1 contender to their vacant championship at 115 pounds and The Ring also ranks Mijares at number 7 in their list of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

Darchinyan talks a ton of trash. The last time he boxed at the Home Depot Center was the last time he faced a Mexican boxer, Victor Burgos on the undercard of Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez I. On March 3, 2007, Darchinyan beat Burgos into a coma in round 12. Burgos has since made a recovery, but the sight of the unconscious Burgos leaving the ring on a stretcher was scary to everyone who saw it. The talkative Darchinyan has promised to send Mijares to the hospital (at least for a check up) after this match and silence the crowd. The crowd for this event is composed of pretty much the same people that were there to see Darchinyan the last time. Then they just disliked the arrogant Darchinyan. Now they revile him. The original recap of Darchinyan vs. Burgos can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/5/preview-of-vic-darchinyan-vs-dimitri-kirilov.html

Darchinyan is The Ring's number 4 contender at 115 pounds.

At 27-years-old, Mijares is 5 years younger then the 32-year-old Darchinyan. Mijares has the height advantage standing 5' 6" tall, while Darchinyan stands 5' 5.5" tall. The double champion has the reach advantage with a 68" wingspan compared to the 64.5" wingspan of Darchinyan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, they should be roughly the same size entering the ring. Both boxers will employ the southpaw stance.

All of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from California. The referee is Dr. Lou Moret.

Darchinyan's awkward style is dominating Mijares in round 1. With 20 seconds to go in round 1, a perfect left uppercut from Darchinyan leaves Mijares lying on his back on the mat. Mijares is in bad shape. Mijares successfully answers the referees count with 7 seconds to go in round 1. Darchinyan was urging his opponent to stand the entire time Mijares was on the mat. The Armenian born boxer wanted Mijares to stand so he could deal outmore damage. That is only the second time Mijares has tasted the canvas in his pro career. Darchinyan takes a surprising round 1, 10-8. Darchinyan wins round 2, 10-9. Mijares is trying to brawl with Darchinyan, which is the worst way to box the unorthodox southpaw. Mijares is normally a tactical counter puncher, which is the style that gives Darchinyan the most trouble. However, in this type of match Darchinyan is showing better hand speed then Mijares. The thought going into the match was that Mijares would have the speed advantage and Darchinyan would have the power advantage. Through the first 2 rounds, Darchinyan has had both the speed and power advantage. If Mijares does not return to his usual style of being a technical counter puncher, Darchinyan will eventually knock him out in a match up of brawlers. After 2 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 20-17.

After round 2, Showtime interview's Israel Vazquez. Vazquez says thatthere is going to be a Vazquez-Marquez IV in March or April. These men are literally going to end up killing each other in this rivalry. If Marquez wins then there must logically be a fifth match and what more can these boxers possibly prove by facing each other, again?

Darchinyan wins round 3, 10-9. Darchinyan continued to land powerful left hands to take a close round 4, 10-9. After 4 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 40-35. All of the members of the press keeping unofficial score for Showtime have Darchinyan ahead after 4 rounds: 40-35, 40-35, 40-35.

Darchinyan wins round 5, 10-9. Darchinyan wins round 6 easily, 10-9. This match has been all Darchinyan. After 6 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 60-53. The press row scoring all has Darchinyan ahead after 6 rounds: 60-53, 60-53, 60-53.

Close round 7 that Mijares may have barely won, 10-9. Mijares' workrate early in round 8 may have barely won him the round, 10-9. Darchinyan appears to be tiring at this point in the match. After 8 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 78-73. All of the press row scoring still has Darchinyan ahead: 79-72, 79-72, 79-72.

A left hand from Darchinyan sends Mijares falling backwards onto the canvas for the second time in the match with 8 seconds to go in round 9. Mijares hit the back of his head on the bottom ring rope falling backwards on the knockdown. Mijares cannot be saved by the bell. The referee reached a count of 5 and with Mijares not close to standing he waved off the match making Darchinyan the winner by technical knockout.

The official outcome from the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that: at 3:00 of round 9 the winner by way of knockout (tha tmay be changed to a technical knockout) and now unified IBF Junior Bantamweight and WBC and WBA Super Flyweight Champion of the World, "The Raging Bull" Vic Darchinyan. The win moves Darchinyan to 31-1-1 with now 25 wins coming by way of knockout.

Darchinyan said in his post match interview that he backed up what he said he was going to do before the match. He now would like to collect the last major title at 115 pounds he does not have or move up to 118 pounds to collect more belts.

Darchinyan was completely dominant in this win. With this win he should move into The Ring's top 10 pound-for-pound rankings. Darchinyan promised to silence the crowd cheering for the Mexican boxer and send the crowd favorite to the hospital following a knockout. He accomplished those goals. The only major title Darchinyan does not hold at 115 pounds is in the possession of Fernando Montiel. If Darchinyan is serious about collecting all the titles at 115 pounds, Montiel will be Darchinyan's next opponent.

Mijares received the biggest payday of his career for this match, $225,000. He is going to need several good performances to approach that payday, again. Mijares was dominated by Darchinyan in every way in this match. He is a very good boxer and this loss should not hurt his drawing power in Mexico. However, Mijares may be best advised to return to Mexico to take some rebuilding matches main eventing major arena shows, then return to the United States on the undercard of a PPV in a high profile match.

This event is a skip depending on a persons preference. Darchinyan moves into the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings with his win and boxers that highly rated are not in action, often. However, none of the boxing on this show was competitive. Therefore, for people who are into seeing good boxers this is a show to watch. For people who want to see exciting boxing this is probably a pretty easy skip. Also, any show where the referee is interviewed should be downgraded some.

News and Notes: Oscar De La Hoya is bringing in Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee to serve as a special consultant to him in his preparation to face Manny Pacquiao on December 6 on HBO PPV. Dundee's primary role apparently will be to help break down video tape of both Pacquiao and De La Hoya to look for weaknesses to exploit and improve upon, respectively.

The pay-per-view numbers are in for Kelly Pavlik vs. Bernard Hopkins and the match bombed. It did 190,000 buys, despite having good hype going into the match. It was expected to do at least 350,000 buys. That is 2 straight Pavlik PPV's that have underperformed and could mean that he has significant problems drawing on PPV despite being a solid box office performer.

Winky Wright is finally going to return to the ring on December 4. That night he will face Michi Munoz on Versus. Assuming Wright is victorious he will return to 160 pounds to challenge Arthur Abraham for his 160-pound title as one-half of an HBO event in February or March that should feature Kelly Pavlik making a mandatory defense of his 160-pound titles. Presumably Pavlik will then face the winner of Abraham-Wright in the summer either on HBO or HBO PPV. However, with these recent numbers it is unlikely that Pavlik will be headlining any PPV's in the near future.

The next recap will come out in the neighborhood of November 16 covering the previous night's HBO event.

Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck

number1contender.net

Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for f4wonline.com

Hidden Valley Lake, CA

I can be reached for feedback and comments at ZurRoadie@aol.com or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.