Advertiser, Australia
Brisbane Courier Mail, Australia
The Australian, Australia
Fox Sports, Australia
Sept 3, 2004
Hurricane’s KO blow
By Grantlee Kieza
THE world title shot of Sydney Olympian Vic Darchinyan was blown out
of the water yesterday as Hurricane Frances loomed over the coast of
Florida with wind gusts topping 220km/h.
Darchinyan, 28, was supremely confident of taking the IBF flyweight
crown from Colombian world champ Irene Pacheco at the Seminole Casino
in Hollywood, Florida tomorrow afternoon (Australian time).
But promoters were forced to cancel the big event yesterday as half a
million people were urged to evacuate the area.
Trainer Jeff Fenech said the cancellation of the fight had
left him $35,000 out of pocket after he paid for two weeks of
training expenses in Los Angeles for his boxer and their support team
before arriving in Florida last week.
“Vic is shattered,” Fenech said from Los Angeles last night as he
headed back to Sydney.
“We were certain he was going to overpower Pacheco and to have the
bout cancelled just 48 hours from fight time is a real knockout blow.
“Vic has spent his whole life in Australia and before that in Armenia
training and dreaming of a shot at the world title and who knows when
he will get another chance.”
Fenech said the fight could not be rescheduled this year because it
was the last boxing date booked for 2004 by the American telecasters
ESPN.
“I spoke to Pacheco and his manager this morning and we may be able
to bring the fight to Australia but we’ll have to wait and see,”
Fenech said.
“Our first priority was just to get everyone on flights out of
Florida as quickly as we could. The whole area is in a panic.”
Another Aussie, Kali Meehan, enlivened the press conference yesterday
for his WBO heavyweight title fight with Lamon Brewster in Las Vegas
on Sunday by releasing a spirited kangaroo at the Mandalay Bay
casino.
Meehan is a huge underdog against the hard-hitting American but
believes he has the boxing skills to get the jump on Brewster for the
upset of the year.