Aftermath

About Vic Darchinyan's victory over Jorge Arce: Darchinyan looked good, but offensively lots of people look good against Arce. I come away thinking he is more beatable than I did before. Darchinyan has a hard time throwing combinations, and does most of his damage with overhand lefts and one-twos. At the same time, he was hit a fair amount (especially downstairs) and Arce isn't the fastest fighter in the world. If Darchinyan steps in with a guy who has a good chin, fewer defensive liabilities than Arce, and can let his hands go a little with more frequency and better pop (as was the case with Nonito Donaire), I think Darchinyan is in a world of trouble. One fighter who probably fits that description is Israel Vázquez, who was being bandied about as a potential opponent for Darchinyan after the fight. If Vázquez is anywhere near his pre-Márquez level (which, I concede, is a significant "if"), I think he absolutely destroys Darchinyan.

The fight has also led to a lot of commentary about the stoppage. Kevin Iole thought it came too late:

The real problem, though, was that neither Moret nor Arce’s corner seemed to grasp that Darchinyan essentially had won the fight by the time the bell sounded to end the seventh round and that Arce had about as much of a chance to score a dramatic knockout as Pete Rose does to make the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gabriel Montoya thought the stoppage was correct, but (at the risk of putting words into his mouth) doesn't seem like he would have been disturbed if it went three more minutes:

From where I was sitting, I had a perfect view of Arce’s corner. He wanted to go on. Haven't seen the TV version yet. But from where I was, 2nd row right behind and to the right a bit of Darchinyan's corner, it was clear he would've if they let him. He was pissed about the cut that apparently came from an elbow. Arce had been cut on top of the head behind his left ear from what I was told also was an elbow.

Do I think they stopped it too late? No. A fighter knows when he has had enough. Oscar against Pacquiao. Nick Casal after taking some but not an overly brutal amount of punishment. . Arce was fading a bit but from where I was sitting, on a couple of occasions, he buzzed Vic pretty good and seemed to be killing him to the body when he could land. Vic slowed around the sixth to me and was one and done in the middle rounds. Problem was, so was Arce. Vic definitely looked to be going for the knockout late and he might have gotten at least a stoppage with that nasty cut. Until that moment, I felt Arce would go the distance. He was taking hard, loud-from-ringside-type blows. But he was still upright, still throwing back, still trying. He was even cognizant enough, with blood pouring over his eye, to complain to the ref about the elbow. No. They stopped it right on time in my opinion. The cut was too damaged to continue and coupled with the rest of the fight, where he was on the cards, etc, there was no need to see more.

We'll never know what would have happened in a 12th round, but the idea that "a fighter knows when he has had enough" is tough to support. Sometimes he knows (after which he is often labeled a quitter), but not always, which is when fighters are killed. That's what his trainer is there for. The fact that some people think Arce should have been allowed to finish the fight demonstrates how boxing's natural inclination is toward letting damaged or injured fighters finish their fights, their health be damned.

The sport is in need of a paradigm shift away from that warrior ethos and toward safety. Suppose Arce would have knocked Darchinyan out in the 12th (despite the absence of any evidence suggesting such an outcome in the ring). The fact that the fight was called early is a bit upsetting then, but it's trivial compared to the tragedy of Arce potentially suffering a life-altering injury, like the one Victor Burgos suffered against Darchinyan in 2007. The most relevant question in the 12th isn't, Does he have a chance to knock the other guy out?, but, Is there a chance that he will suffer a brain injury? I recognize that boxing is by nature a violent sport, and I don't want to turn it into tiddlywinks. Furthermore, all of the fighters are grown-ups who know what they are getting themselves into, and they decide to fight essentially of their own free will, motivated by debts or passion or the limelight or the possibility of a more comfortable life or whatever. As long as the sport exists, a certain quantity of accidents and grave injuries are unpreventable and therefore inevitable. Nonetheless, is the sport doing everything possible to limit the predictable, preventable injuries? I don't think so.