Not even paper's champion

No matter how many belts Nate Campbell wins, he just wasn't meant to be a superstar.

When there are four recognized world champions in each weight division in boxing, it's easy to get overlooked. 

Despite holding three of the four major titles in the lightweight division, Nate Campbell was never one to command much attention and Saturday night was no different. He always had to fight his way to the top the hard way and work through difficult times. 

When he stepped on the scales at the weigh-in Friday, his story of tough luck and hard breaks continued. He was three pounds over the weight limit, meaning he would be stripped of all his titles.  

Campbell had plans to move up the 140-pound division after the fight, but losing titles and a loss in the fight would have meant the end of the career for the 36-year-old who worked tirelessly to win the titles after a huge upset over "Baby Bull" Juan Diaz last summer. 

Campbell was never groomed to be a champion such as Roy Jones Jr. or Miguel Cotto, so a loss would end his chance to secure big money fights. Losing his titles by not making weight already hurt, but Campbell said at 36 years old his body just wasn't able to make the cut anymore. 

Just a few months earlier he was scheduled to fight Joan Guzman for $400,000, but Guzman had to pull out of the fight and Campbell was left again with nowhere to go. Saturday was Campbell's first fight since beating Diaz and he had to take on Ali Funeka. 

Funeka is a giant at 6 feet, 1 inch tall — a four inch difference compared to the 5-foot-7 Campbell. The South African brought a story of his own to the ring. Despite being 30-1-2 with 25 knockouts, he could hardly get noticed in his own country, which has always been a hotbed for boxing prospects. 

He finally had his chance Saturday and he showed why he has compiled 30 wins. He was knocked down with a violent right hand in the second round, but bounced back and used great technique and strategy to win rounds three through nine. 

On one hand, Campbell was about to see everything he worked for slip away in his first ever defense, and on the other, Funeka was about to open the door for a better life. After taking poundings in 30 fights for small purses, he was about to get a payday that could support his family. 

But then the momentum started to slowly shift in the 10th round. Funeka was not throwing as many punches and Campbell was finding his way inside and throwing punishing blows to the body. 

In the 11th round, Campbell was in control again and knocked down Funeka once more. Campbell went on to dominate the 12th round and win the fight via majority decision. He only won because of his two knockdowns as he was out boxed for a majority of the match. 

Funeka knew it too. He fell to his knees in his corner, put his head down and cried. He completely broke down and wept because he knew this was the match that could have taken him from a man struggling in South Africa to a man making championship money. 

Campbell raised his hands in the air and was lifted up by his corner men because everything he worked for was still in tact. For at least one more fight, he would be able to attract a big payday against a top opponent. 

It took nine years for Campbell to become a champion and more than 10 years for Funeka to get his shot. Funeka went back to South Africa with his dreams of big paydays dashed. Campbell stayed in Florida ready for a run to become champion at 140. 

It was an intensely emotional night for both men and it was a story they told with their punches, their willingness to pick themselves up off the mat and their tears. 

But it was not on pay-per-view and it wasn't in a big arena. A holder of three world titles was fighting on HBO's Boxing After Dark. 

Campbell and Funeka proved they have the heart and desire of a champion, but because they were not groomed to be at the top and they are not hyped by big-shot promoters...

Well...they are not even paper's champion.

Sometimes breaking the rules pays off

Future opponents should be ready to take in that view of Vic Darchinyan.

There are two golden rules in boxing: Keep your hands up and chin down.

If a young, aspiring boxer wants to work towards a world championship, he is taught to keep his hands on both sides of his head and throw counter punches from that position. But Vic Darchinyan lives in a parallel universe.

The undisputed champion in the super flyweight division continued the hottest streak in all of boxing by dismantling a tough Jorge Arce via 11th round TKO on Saturday night. And he did it his way; hands lows, chin up and just daring his opponent to hit him.

Darchinyan has the most unorthodox stance of any world champion I have seen. His shoulders are hunched over, his lead right hand is below his waist and his powerful left is cocked back ready to fire at any time. It's a recipe for disaster for most fighters, but not Darchinyan who is 32-1-1 with 26 KOs and holds wins over world class fighters such as Arce, Cristian Mijares and Dimitri Kirilov.

The Armenian-Australian showcased why he is one of the top-10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world with his dazzling quickness and lethal left hand. It's not often a man fighting at 115 pounds has a left hand powerful enough to drop middleweight, but Darchinyan certainly does.

The first round was a clinic as Darchinyan poked his head out of his akward stance, causing Arce to swing wildly for a knockout. The "Raging Bull" would then quickly step to his right and deliver a left uppercut right to the chin of Arce. The left uppercut landed all night for Darchinyan but he also showed he was not afraid to use his right hand.

Darchinyan has been criticized for focusing too much on throwing his left and not enough on throwing jabs and short hooks with his right. But on Saturday, he delivered beautiful combinations, mainly a right jab, left uppercut and even a left cross, right hook. Those two combinations, which consistently landed throughout the night, showed just how much Darchinyan has improved within two years.

By the time the second round ended, the champion had been so dominant that I seriously started considering moving him into the top-5 of my personal pound-for-pound rankings — but then round three happened.

Round three was the only round I scored for Arce and it was because Darchinyan got tempted into brawling with hard-hitting Mexican slugger. Arce had some great body shots in the round and Darchinyan later conceded that Arce did hit hard to the body. The third round is proof that even with his recent dominance, Darchinyan has a ways to go before he can be considered one of the top-5 boxers in the world.

The rest of the fight was a great display of speed and power from Darchinyan and also a frightening display of courage from Arce who probably should have thrown in the towel by the eighth or ninth round.

It seemed Arce had a chance to gain some momentum after the third round, but for some reason he kept circling to his right. By circling to his right he was walking right into Darchinyan's powerful left hand. His corner failed him by not instructing him to bail left after jumping inside.

Darchinyan proved when he is focused, he is one of the most dangerous boxers on the planet. After cementing himself as the king in the super flyweight division, he appears to be ready to move up to bantamweight or even junior featherweight.

Matches against Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez could solidify Darchinyan as one of the best boxers of this generation and a move up to featherweight where a challenge such as Chris John would be awaiting could definitely make him a legend.

2009 has already showcased two brilliant boxing clinics put on by Shane Mosley and now Vic Darchinyan. Two more great fights are scheduled for this Saturday with lightweight champion Nate Campbell taking on Ali Funeka and Sergio Martinez squaring off with Kermit Cintron.

The last two years have been a nice comeback for boxing and Darchinyan proved again Saturday why he is one of the fighters spearheading the revival.