Junior bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan has always had lofty goals. One was to win the flyweight title. He did that and reigned for almost three years.
Another goal he set for himself was to win the junior bantamweight title. He did that, too, winning a belt last summer and then unifying the three major belts in spectacular fashion when he knocked out Cristian Mijares in the ninth round in November.
But after brutalizing Jorge Arce for 11 rounds in February, he wanted another challenge. So now it is on to the bantamweight division for the trash-talking Australian slugger.
Darchinyan will move up in weight and challenge bantamweight titleholder -- and fellow power puncher -- Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko this summer, Darchinyan promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com on Thursday.
Shaw said he made a deal with Agbeko promoter Don King for the bout, which will take place at a site to be determined this summer, most likely in June. Showtime will televise in the United States, Shaw said.
"The fight is made. That's breaking news," said Shaw, adding that he was awaiting official approval from the IBF, which recognizes Darchinyan as its 115-pound champion and Agbeko as its 118-pound titleholder. "It will be on Showtime and be a co-promotion between Don and myself."
Shaw said he has a deal with Showtime for the fight but the network had not yet assigned a specific date because it is working out its summer schedule.
Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KOs), 33, an Armenian living in Australia, has emerged as one of the top fighters in the world, becoming the first three-belt champion in junior bantamweight history. But he has always said he'd like to move up and win a bantamweight title and eventually a junior featherweight title.
Shaw believes he can do it, but doesn't want him to get ahead of himself.
"This is a very tough fight," Shaw said. "We have a lot of respect for the 'King.' The question is, will Vic bring his power up to bantamweight with him? I hope so."
Agbeko (26-1, 22 KOs), 28, of Ghana but based in New York, stopped Luis Perez in the seventh round in September 2007 to win his belt. After a long layoff, caused in part because Agbeko came down with malaria, he made his first defense against mandatory challenger William Gonzalez in December and scored a majority decision victory in a sensational action fight.
The match with Darchinyan is just the sort of high-profile fight Agbeko has wanted, manager Vinny Scolpino said.
"It's definitely a good fight, a great fight," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "It's not signed yet, but everything is good. We want it. When the paper comes in front of us, it should be signed off on without a problem. I think Joseph has a great chance to win. Darchinyan is a tough guy and he can punch, but so can Joseph. So I think we have a great chance. Besides that, it's an awesome fight. It's a true fight. Nobody knows who's going to win."
Credit to Dan Rafael ESPN.com's boxing writer.
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