THE RING's No. 1-rated junior bantamweight defended two 115-pound titles with a punishing, one-sided unanimous decision over freakishly tough but outclassed Rodrigo Guerrero in a Showtime-televised main event from Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Saturday.

Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27 knockouts), who won by scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 120-108, outboxed Guerrero while hitting the game and aggressive 22-year-old challenger with clean power punches in every round of the bout.

"This kid took big punches," Darchinyan said afterward. "I couldn't believe it. I respect him."