Vic Darchinyan will not need reminding that just a matter of two short months ago his former foe Nonito Donaire established himself as the undisputed best bantamweight in the world with an early knockout of Fernando Montiel.

It all rendered the Don King and Showtime-sponsored bantamweight tournament, in which Darchinyan was beaten in his semi-final by Abner Mares in December, spurious to say the least.

While Donaire rocketed up the pound-for-pound list and could talk with plenty of justification of going on to emulate his fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao, Darchinyan and co were left looking on from the sidelines.

It was ironic that it had come to this. Until Darchinyan was knocked out by Donaire in their big super-flyweight scrap in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 2007, he had been the one talking of winning titles in multiple weight divisions.

The Armenia-born, Australia-based Darchinyan paid scant regard to his opponents in or out of the ring, but 28 straight wins prior to his run-in with Donaire suggested he was well on his way to backing up his boasts.

These days, things are different. Darchinyan was widely pilloried for avoiding a projected rematch with Donaire, instead moving up to super-fly and eventually to bantam, where he lost on his debut to Joseph Agbeko in August 2009.

Another loss via split decision to Mares leaves Darchinyan effectively facing a third-placed play-off against Yonnhy Perez in Los Angeles this Saturday night. Agbeko fights Mares in the 'final' on the same bill.

For Darchinyan, however, now 35, neither his advancing years nor his experiences on the end of three painful defeats have diluted his rhetoric when it comes to describing just how the evening is going to go.

"In my last fight (against Mares) I showed skills for 12 rounds and didn't go bombing for the knockout," said Darchinyan.

"But no more. I'm changing my style again. I'm going to knock out everyone in front of me.

"This time it's Yonnhy Perez. I'm just coming out to destroy him. People talk about when I moved to bantamweight and say I'm not as powerful as I was at 115lbs. You'll see how powerful I am at bantamweight."

Certainly, Darchinyan still has the talent and power to cause a commotion in any division, and since his loss to Donaire has scored some notable wins, not least his super-fly unification success over good Mexican Cristian Mijares.

But no doubt Donaire, who blames Darchinyan squarely for pulling out of a proposed multi-million dollar rematch last year, will be casting a wry smile at some of the comments the self-styled 'Raging Bull' is coming out with.

"I'm just coming to knock him out," added Darchinyan.

"I'm going to punch to the left and right with damaging punches. I'm coming to destroy him and I'm looking for a knockout in the fourth round.

"Boxing is about excitement. I'm not just coming to win the fight. I'm coming to bring excitement. I want to fight bigger guys, world champions. I want to show everyone how strong I am at the moment."