CARSON - Vic Darchinyan might be a 115-pounder, but he hits with the power of a heavyweight.

Darchinyan (31-1-1, 25 KOs) might be able to stake a claim to being the most powerful puncher pound-for-pound in boxing after his crushing ninth-round KO over Cristian Mijares (36-4-2, 14 KOs) on Saturday night in front of 3,076 at The Home Depot Center.

Darchinyan retained his IBF super-flyweight title and added Mijares' WBC and WBA belts to become the undisputed champion.

Rarely are fighters as honest about the opponents following a loss that Mijares was about Darchinyan.

"I felt overwhelmed by Darchinyan's style," the Mexican admitted.

It's hard not to be overwhelmed by Darchinyan's awkward and unorthodox style. He moves straight forward poking and prodding with his right jab before unleashing one powerful left after the other from all kinds of angles. Each is as powerful as the next whether it's a left uppercut, straight left or overhand left.

"I promised to show my skills and box and knock him out," Darchinyan said. "I kept my promise."

It didn't take long for Mijares to feel the full brunt of Darchinyan's power. Darchinyan landed a left uppercut late in the first round that deposited Mijares on the canvas. Mijares beat the count and made it out of the first round.

But Darchinyan had landed the kind of blow that changed the entire way that Mijares approached the fight. Mijares likes to use his superior technical skills to pile up points and win decisions, but now he find himself under fire by a fighter that was not going to stop moving forward and applying pressure.

Mijares spent much of the remainder of the fight trying to stay away from Darchinyan and his pulverising punches. Mijares had his moments in the fifth and seventh when he was able to get his right jab working, but he couldn't sustain any offense.

The end came at the end of the ninth round when Darchinyan connected a overhand left that exploded on Mijares' chin. Mijares slammed to the canvas from the force of the punch. he was flat on his back as referee Lou Moret began to count. But Moret could see Mijares was completely out and waived off the fight at 3:00 of the ninth round.

Darchinyan's promoter Gary Shaw has said a fight against WBO 115-pound champion Fernando Montiel is a possibility, four-time world champion Jorge Arce is another or a rematch against Nonito Donaire, the lone fighter to beat Darchinyan, could materialize.

"I'm ready to fight anyone and I'm ready to fight the best," said Darchinyan, an Australian-based Armenian.

Australia-based Russian Victor Oganov (28-2, 28 KOs) was rallying in the fourth and fifth rounds and appeared to be making a charge against 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell (17-0, 12 KOs), but Oganov's face couldn't hold up to Dirrell's ripping combinations.

Dirrell ended up stopping Oganov because of a nasty cut above his right and was declared the TKO victor at 28 seconds of the sixth round. Dirrell captured the vacant NABO super-middleweight title with the victory.

It was target practice for Dirrell in the first three rounds as he uncorked one blazing combination after the other. Oganov was never in serious danger, but he suffered the cut after absorbing a series of uppercuts in the fourth round.

The fourth round also was when Oganov started to turn things around with his vicious body punches. He knocked down Dirrell with a left hook to the body, but referee Ray Corona ruled it a low blow.

Oganov continued to wear down Dirrell with body punches in the fifth round, but affter the fifth the cut above his right eye was becoming a problem.

Dirrell landed a three-punch combo early in the sixth and Corona deemed Oganov unfit to continue because of the cut and stopped the fight at the 28-second mark.

"I was a little surprised that the referee stopped it when he did," Dirrell said. "But it was only a matter of time. I knew he was about to go. He was done."

Oganov was disappointed with his performance.

"I came to do my best and I tried to win with my power punches, but I waited too long to assert them." Oganov said. "This was a good lesson learned, but I need more practice on sharpening my skills."

Former amateur sensation Marshall Martinez (8-0-1, 5 KOs) of Fontana was back in the ring for the first time in five years and he hammered out a six-round unanimous decision over journeyman Michael Lucero (12-15-1, 4 KOs) of West Linn, Ore.

Martinez had qualified for the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxing team, but got kicked off the team for stealing and forging checks from athletes at the training center. Still, Martinez remained a highly sought after prospect by all the top professional promoters. He established himself as a lightweight KO artist as a pro before getting arrested and convicted on drug trafficking charges and spending three years in the federal prison.

Martinez, who used to fight at 135 pounds, looked a little soft at 143.5 pounds, but he showed spurts of promise throughout the six-round fight against Lucero. But he didn't have his conditioning where he needs it to be and he didn't have the timing on his power punches, so he was unable to score a kayo.

If Martinez, 27, is able to stay out of trouble and stick to a strict training regiment, he still has the potential to do something in this sport.

Super-middleweight Carlos De Leon Jr. (21-2-2, 14 KOs) of Las Vegas walked through Brad Austin (8-5, 5 KOs) of Johnson City, Tenn., knocking down his overmatched opponent three times in the third round before the fight was stopped at the 2:19 mark.

Super-bantamweight Alvaro Muro (6-10, 5 KOs) of Moreno Valley gave Derrick Wilson (4-0, 1 KOs) of Fort Myers, Fla., but Wilson was able to keep his undefeated record intact and win a four-round unanimous decision.

Super-lightweight Jesse Vargas (3-0, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas opened the card with a second-round TKO over Michaelangelo Lynks (6-8-2, 2 KOs) of L.A.

RELATED LINKS

• VIDEO: New undisputed super-fly champ Vic Darchinyan
• D.C. is ringside (sort of) for Darchinyan-Mijares

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