See, this is why Cristian Mijares is not a top pound-for-pound fighter. Because a top pound-for-pound guy does not lay the kind of egg Mijares did tonight against Vic Darchinyan. In a unification bout for the 115-pound division, heavy underdog Darchinyan silenced his critics by completely dominating the supposedly superior boxer, Mijares.

From the opening bell, it looked like Mijares refused to take Darchinyan seriously. Even as Darchinyan was easily winning the first round, raking his opponent with vicious left hands (as he would all night) Mijares stood there and smirked. Then, in the final seconds of the opening round, Darchinyan crumpled Mijares with a left uppercut, sending the Mexican champion to the canvas for only the second time in his career.

Mijares got up, but after that it was all Darchinyan. He controlled the fight with his powerful left hand, which staggered Mijares repeatedly. Mijares never got his work rate going, often missing badly with his jab, never getting into any kind of rhythm. It was a dreadful showing. Dreadful in large part because Darchinyan, it now seems clear, is an underrated boxer. Everyone who has seen him fight knows the Australian can punch. But tonight his defense was also on display, as he picked off, blocked, and ducked Mijares’s best punches for most of the night, landing significant blows himself in every round.

It seems that Mijares, known for his defensive prowess, didn’t know what to make of Darchinyan’s style. It is certainly an ugly thing to behold. Arms out, elbows extended, Darchinyan looks like a gangly, lurching spider in the ring. He fights dirty at times, hitting his opponents with stray elbows and tossing them around in the clinches. On the inside Darchinyan did a lot of holding throughout the fight, stifling Mijares’s offense. But Mijares, who failed to use his superior height and reach to his advantage, invited these tactics by coming in with his neck bent, opening himself to the overhand lefts and uppercuts that battered him all night long.

Judging by the scorecards on fightjudge.com, it seems that some people had Mijares climbing back into the fight, beginning in the seventh round. I didn’t see that at all. Mijares’s best round, it is true, came in the seventh, when Darchinyan looked a little fatigued for the first minute or so and got caught with a couple effective combinations. But then the tide turned again and Darchinyan started firing that awesome left hand once more. By the end of the round he was backing up the Mexican, making for a 10-10 round on my card. In the eighth, Mijares landed little of note, while Darchinyan continued to land the more effective, telling blows.

The outcome clearly decided should the fight have gone to the cards, Mijares kept coming forward in the ninth round, and Darchinyan kept making him pay. The Australian put Mijares down again at the end of the round, with two flush shots to the face, knocking Mijares against the bottom ring rope and then flat on his back, ending the fight.

Darchinyan was his usual boastful self in triumph, proclaiming his own greatness and touting the fact that he had “kept his promise” by becoming the first man ever to knock out Mijares. As the new king of the junior bantamweight division, there should be no doubts about him now. As for Mijares, who slinked away from the ring in disgrace without giving the customary post-fight interview, it is safe to say that he will not be reappearing on anyone’s top pound-for-pound list anytime soon. Will Darchinyan? Wait and see…