By Jake Donovan

It was never pretty for Vic Darchinyan, but how he gets a win is less important at this stage of his career as the fact that he in fact picks up a victory. The former two division champ did just that, struggling over the course of the night before picking up steam late to stop Juan Jimenez in nine rounds Saturday evening in Chetumal, Q.R., Mexico. 

The fact that Darchinyan was even returning to the ring was as surprising as it was disappointing. The brash former champ looked worse for the wear following a vicious knockout loss to Nicholas Walters last May, though perhaps returning of the belief that he still has enough to handle the sport's fringe level.

Even if that statement rings true, it's not by much. Darchinyan looked every bit his 39 years of age, struggling for most of the night against a journeyman not known for his punch resistance and who was also moving up two weight classes. 

Sluggish through most of the first half of the night, Darchinyan finally turned a corner in round seven. Unfortunately, his best moment of the fight to that point was the result of a foul, dropping Jimenez with a punch that landed on the back of his opponent's skull. 

Time was called to allow the fallen fighter time to recover, but it was enough for Darchinyan to finally see the finish line. The veteran brawler finished strong, eventually battering Jimenez into submission. 

The official time was 2:48 of round nine. 

Darchinyan moves to 40-7-1 (29KOs), winning his first fight in nearly two years. 

A career-resurrection came with an upset of then-unbeaten Luis Orlando del Valle in Sept. '12. The upset was followed by a tune-up win in May '13, after having signed with Top Rank in a move designed to set up a rematch with Nonito Donaire, the man responsible for his first career defeat. 

Surprisingly, Darchinyan fared well against Donaire in their Nov. '13 rematch, before hitting a wall and suffering a late-rounds stoppage. His valiant-in-defeat effort was enough to convince Top Rank to throw him in for one last title shot, a move that nearly produced criminal charges as he was fed to knockout artist Nicholas Walters last May.

Their featherweight title fight was gruesomely one-sided, ending with Darchinyan landing on the very wrong end of one of the year's most savage knockouts. It was believed that the fight would be the last of a storied career, perhaps one destined for the International Boxing Hall of Fame one day. 

Despite resuming his winning ways on Saturday evening, one can only hope the fight serves as a positive note on which Darchinyan can finally leave the game, with some semblance of credibility still intact.

CANO GETS LONG AWAITED WIN WITH EARLY KO

With the show running well over its budgeted time slot, Pablo Cesar Cano managed to take care of business earlier than expected. The fringe contender drilled Jorge Silva early, prompting a 1st round stoppage. 

The knockout was sudden and a bit controversial, though the right call in the grand scheme of things. Silva was dropped hard, but perhaps alert enough to where he could have continued had the referee not suddenly counted him out. 

In similar fashion to the manner in which Malik Scott was knocked out by Dereck Chisora, Silva (20-7-2, 16KOs) waited until the count of nine before rising to his feet. The referee felt that since the fighter was still down at nine, the next logical step was to count him out, which came at 2:05 of round one. 

Cano picks up his first win since Sept. '13, advancing to 28-4-1 (21KOs). The 25-year old was out of the ring for nearly a year following a surprise knockout loss to Fernando Angulo. 

Both bouts aired live on Fox Deportes in the United States and on Televisa in Mexico.

UNDERCARD (FOX DEPORTES ONLY)

Luis Sanchez struggled to an eight-round majority decision over Alfonso Torres (5-10-1, 1KO) in a yet another all-Cancun showdown on the card. The win was a far cry from Sanchez' strong showing versus former super featherweight contender Miguel Beltran Jr. last December, never quite getting his rhythm going in this ugly, awkward brawl. No scores were announced on air, but Sanchez (16-3-1, 5KOs) now picks up his fifth straight win. 

Opening the telecast, Arturo Hernandez scored a six-round decision over Alberto Cupido in a battle of Cancun-based super featherweights. Hernandez (4-2-1, 2KOs) picks up his first win since last March, having not fought since suffering a knockout loss to unbeaten Joseph Aguirre last May. Cupido (8-12-2, 6KOs) is now winless in his last four starts.  

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox