SecondsOut Upset Of The Year: Donaire TKO5 Darchinyan

By Paul Upham: When Nonito Donaire defeated defending world champion Vic Darchinyan by 5th round stoppage at the Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut on July 7, it not only won him the IBF/IBO flyweight world titles, the brutal knockout has now also earned him SecondsOut’s 2007 Upset Of The Year award.

Going into the world title fight, which was shown live in the USA on Showtime, there was not too much on the 25 year-old Filipino’s record that suggested that one of boxing’s best pound for pound punchers was headed for his first professional loss.

31 year-old Darchinyan had defeated Donaire’s older brother Glenn in October 2006, breaking his jaw in the process. This fight was a step up for Nonito Donaire, but he proved that he is a worthy world champion and also avenged his families’ honour in the process.

“I caught him walking in perfect with a counter shot,” said Donaire, improving his record to 18-1 (11). “One of my strategies was to throw back after each time he landed a punch. I think that got him thinking.”

The seven to one underdog, known as “The Filipino Flash”, landed a savage punch to send Darchinyan to the canvas for the first time in his career. As the Armenian born Australian came forward and attempted to land his dangerous left hand, Donaire dipped his head to the right and landed his own left hook directly on the champion’s chin. Darchinyan struggled back to his feet and then crashed into the ring ropes, his trainer Billy Hussein grabbing him as referee Eddie Claudio waved off the contest at the 1:38 minute mark.

After four completed rounds, Donaire was leading 40-36 on one of the scorecards. The other two cards had the match even at 38-apiece.

“This is a tremendous victory for not only me but for my family and my people in the Philippines,” said Donaire. “I could feel their energy with me the whole fight. I felt great in there tonight.”

An Armenian 2000 Olympian, Darchinyan had a record of 28-0 (22) and was attempting the seventh defense of his IBF crown and the sixth defense of his IBO belt. Four consecutive stoppage wins on Showtime, including a brutal beating of Victor Burgos, which sent him to hospital and ended his career, had some speaking of Darchinyan as a pound for pound top ten contender. One Donaire punch ended all of that.

“I am very disappointed,” Darchinyan said, after the loss. “I got caught with a great shot. What can I say?”

Other contenders for the 2007 Upset Of The Year award included Christian Mijares’ strong twelve round points win over fellow Mexican star Jorge Arce at junior bantamweight on April 14.

Also impressive was Filipino veteran Gerry Penalosa turning back the clock with a 7th round knockout of reigning WBO bantamweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez on August 11.

In a UK surprise, Welshman Gavin Rees won the WBA junior welterweight world title with a unanimous twelve round points decision over Souleymane M’baye on July 21.

But ultimately, while the others merited serious consideration, the readers of SecondsOut.com have spoken and voted their 2007 Upset Of The Year.

WINNER: Nonito Donaire W.TKO.5 Vic Darchinyan

Previous SecondsOut.com Upset Of The Year Awards

2006: Carlos Baldomir W.12 Zab Judah
2005: Zahir Raheem W.12 Erik Morales
2004: Danny Williams W.KO.4 Mike Tyson
2003: Corrie Sanders W.TKO.2 Wladimir Klitschko
2002: Vernon Forrest W.12 Shane Mosley I
2001: Hasim Rahman W.KO.4 Lennox Lewis
2000: Chris Byrd W.RSF.10 Vitali Klitschko


Paul Upham
Content Editor