POUND for pound, as they say in the boxing game, Vic Darchinyan is one of the strongest and most punishing fighters in the world.

Looking in a new direction ... Super flyweight boxer Vic Darchinyan at his Sydney gym. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: The Daily Telegraph

“But when you come up against someone else who also has a strong punch then you need something extra to win,” said Darchinyan, who came from Armenia for the Sydney Olympics and transformed himself into Australia’s own Raging Bull.

“I weigh 57kg at the moment. I have bench-pressed 120kg,” Darchinyan said, by way of explanation of the lethal left-hand knock-out blow which has earned him 26 KOs in his 33 victories.

He has lost only twice, notably in his most recent bout, narrowly, against Ghana’s Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko who left him with 44 stitches as a reminder of the head-butts which split both eyebrows to the bone.

That was in July. And recently, with trainer Angelo Hyder in his corner, Darchinyan – like Danny Green before him – decided to try something new, a smarter way to win a world title. With Green’s encouragement, Darchinyan sought out Hayden Knowles – conditioner for the Parramatta Eels – to help him improve … wait for it: his punching power.

But this time Darchinyan will start delivering from the floor up.

“I told him he won’t be going anywhere near the bench-press rack while he works with me,” said Knowles, who also designed and supervises the strength and conditioning program for Dani Samuels, the shock gold medallist for the discus throw at this year’s world athletics championships in Berlin.

Darchinyan clearly enjoys the variety and specificity of the Knowles workouts, saying: “I think it’s going to be successful.

“I know already I don’t use my legs enough. I know the power comes through the legs. I know this since I started boxing at the age of eight, but until now I never had the chance to train like this. I know if I connect my hands to my hips I’m going to be unstoppable.”

Even at 33, Darchinyan has an unquenchable thirst to better himself. With six world titles to his credit, Darchinyan’s next fight in California on December 12 is a mandatory encounter against WBC interim world champion Tomas Rojas, of Mexico, who recently cleaned up South African Evans Mbamba who had been until then 16-0.

Does Darchinyan have time to absorb the new training and implement changes before then? Certainly, Hyder said: “He’s got plenty of time. [The ability to change] is in his head, mate. He could make it between rounds.”