Big-talking Darchinyan, confident champ Agbeko ready for bantamweight title fight

Darchinyan, Agbeko ready to put words aside

Vic Darchinyan’s insults sting about as much as his punches, and considering he’s a four-time champion in two weight divisions, Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko wasn’t surprised at what he heard during the run-up to their bantamweight title fight on Saturday night.

“I think after this fight they are going to change my opponent’s name to Joseph ‘Chimpanzee’ Agbeko,” Darchinyan railed on a joint teleconference. “This is going to be the biggest mismatch. Where would you like me to hurt you most, in the body or in the face?”

Darchinyan will be trying to become a three-division champion when he moves up in weight to challenge Agbeko for his IBF title at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.

Also on the stacked undercard, former cruiserweight champs Steve Cunningham and Wayne Braithwaite will fight for a mandatory chance at current titleholder Tomasz Adamek, and lightweights Tony DeMarco and Agnes Adjaho will be trying for a shot at WBC champion Edwin Valero. Welterweights Ivan Kirpa and Miguel Rodriguez will also be in the ring.

It’s the two colorful characters in the main event that have attracted all the attention, though. Biting barbs have been flying back and forth for weeks.

“Vic is always talking about his power and about how he’s this and that, but I’ve watched his fights and I never saw that power,” said Agbeko, who’s originally from Ghana and now trains in the Bronx. “He’s always fought guys that are afraid of him and he did what he wanted with them. But in this fight, I’m going to do what I want to do.”

Most observers favor Darchinyan, the Armenia-born Australian who’s been ruthlessly knocking out just about everybody he faces lately.

Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KOs) became the first junior bantamweight to unify three belts when he stopped Cristian Mijares in the ninth round of a lopsided fight last November. Three months later, the “Raging Bull” was battering former titleholder Jorge Arce when a doctor stopped their fight at the end of the 11th round.

Darchinyan’s only loss was a stunning fifth-round knockout to Filipino sensation Nonito Donaire — a defeat that Agbeko (26-1, 22 KOs) has rifled back against his brash challenger in their constant verbal sparring.

“Why didn’t he talk like this when Nonito Donaire beat him?” Agbeko said, in response to another zinger from Darchinyan. “I wanted him to talk more, and I want him to realize that I’m going to beat him more than Donaire beat him.”

Agbeko certainly represents one of the toughest challenges Darchinyan has faced, regardless of having to move up in weight. Agbeko’s only loss was a controversial decision to Wladimir Sidorenko in 2004 that even Darchinyan believes was wrongly awarded.

Still, promoter Gary Shaw is nearly as confident as Darchinyan that one of his prized assets will win on Saturday night. Shaw even mentioned possible opponents for his next fight, ranging from a rematch against Donaire to challenging someone like Rafael Marquez at 122 pounds.

“I believe I represent a fighter who will go down as one of the greatest boxers to ever fight in the lower weights,” Shaw said. “Vic and (manager) Elias (Nassar) don’t care about weights. They only want the best fighters, and they believe right now that ‘King Kong’ Agbeko is the best fighter at 118 pounds.”