TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -Victor Darchinyan took the IBF junior bantamweight title from Dimitri Kirilov on Saturday night with a fifth-round knockout in a fight that Darchinyan dominated from start to finish.
A left hand by the 32-year-old Darchinyan sent Kirilov to the mat for the second time in the fifth round, and Kirilov was unable to get back to his feet. The bout at the Emerald Queen Casino ended at the 1:05 mark of the fifth.
Darchinyan (30-1-1 with 24 knockouts) took the fight to Kirilov (23-4-1, 9 knockouts) from the opening bell. The first three rounds were all Darchinyan. But Kirilov seemed to get back into the fight in the fourth round.
Darchinyan came out strong in the fifth, throwing three quick punches and sending Kirilov to the mat for the first time 30 seconds into the round, resulting in a standing eight count. Kirilov, who ended the fourth round bleeding from the left side of his nose, came right back, but not for long, as Darchinyan pushed him back toward the ropes, then ended it with a left-handed shot to the head.
Kirilov got to his knees and grabbed the rope, but was unable to get back to his feet by the end of the 10 count.
Darchinyan, born in Armenia and now living in Australia, dominated the super flyweight division, successfully defending his title six times, five inside the distance before losing in an upset to Norito Donaire last July. He is now 8-1 with seven knockouts in title bouts.
Darchinyan fought to a 12-round draw against Zey Gorres on Feb. 2. In an elimination bout for the right to fight Kirilov, Gorres was cut badly and was unable to train while healing, thus giving Darchinyan the mandatory challenge.
In the co-main event, 2004 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell scored a fourth-round TKO against Mike Paschal in a battle of undefeated super middleweights. The 24-year-old Dirrell raised his record to 16-0, while dropping Paschal to 17-1-1 with four KOs.
