Current IBO bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan (37-3, 27 KOs) fought vigorously in front of a home crowd in Yerevan on Saturday night to retain his title against challenger Evans Mbamba (18-2, 9 KOs) from South Africa by judges’ unanimous decision.

The first professional boxing bout ever to be held in Armenia was part of the “Armenia Against the World” international boxing competition that went 4-0 in favor of the host nation.

In the presence of thousands of spectators at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex, including Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, National Olympic Committee President Gagik Tsarukyan and other senior guests, Darchinyan, 35, dubbed “The Raging Bull”, dominated throughout the 12-round bout against his less experienced challenger Mbamba, 29.

The Vanadzor-born southpaw revealed his great ambition early on by knocking his opponent down seconds into the fight. He kept punching Mbamba hard all the way to the final gong, making it a 119-107, 120-107, 120-107 decision by the three judges.

Speaking to the audience after the fight, Darchinyan dedicated his latest victory to the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, which is to be marked on September 21, and presented his belt to President Sargsyan.

“I was going for a big punch…, but I was a little in a rush,” the champion revealed in an interview, making it clear that it was yet early for him to call it a career in professional boxing.

Earlier, Darchinyan’s fellow Team Armenia members Azat Hovhannisyan (w/c 55.5 kg), Hovhannes Zhamkochyan (w/c 60 kg) and Gabriel Tolmajyan (w/c 59 kg) beat Sergei Tassimov (Estonia), Mikhail Gogolashvili (Georgia) and Evgeny Fedorov (Latvia), respectively, in six-round bouts. Hovhannisyan and Zhamkochyan ended their fights in knockouts, while Tolmajyan won on points.