Size can often be a detriment to achieving mainstream success for sub-featherweight stars. Throughout the years, some smaller guys have never gotten the recognition they deserved — even from hardcore fans — largely because they fought in their bubbles off television outside of the United States.

One of the fighters largely responsible for putting the little guys on the map again beginning in the mid-2000s was "The Raging Bull" Vic Darchinyan, a violent knockout artist from Vanadzor, Armenia, who won four major titles across the flyweight and super flyweight divisions.

The hard-charging and supremely confident Darchinyan is the rare fighter who lived up to his nickname — he boxed like a bull in a china shop, demonstrating an unconventional herky-jerky fighting style that bordered on relentless and reckless yet was undoubtedly intense and entertaining.

The southpaw slugger's zesty fighting style is the reason why he exuded crossover appeal and became a staple on Showtime, once prompting former network head Ken Hershman to classify the diminutive and dynamic Darchinyan as "one of the most prolific fighters that ever appeared on the network."

Darchinyan fought on Showtime 14 times, putting him alongside the likes of Evander Holyfield (18), Julio Cesar Chavez (17), Mike Tyson (16), Jermell Charlo (16), Leo Santa Cruz (16) and Gervonta Davis (14) for the most appearances in the network’s 37-year history.

Darchinyan also was one of the cornerstones of Showtime's "Super Four" series, and arguably no one had seen a fighter lighting up the lower-weight classes with such fanfare since Michael Carbajal.

"You put me in there against a heavyweight, and my goal was to knock him out — I thought I was unstoppable," Darchinyan, 49, told The Ring in an interview from his home in Armenia.

"My goal was to be aggressive from the beginning of every fight. I wanted my opponents to feel my power, force them to go into survival mode. My power took away whatever was the best asset my opponents had. I didn't want the decision to win, I wanted knockouts and to be the Mike Tyson of the lower weights."

The outspoken and fearless Darchinyan took on challengers of all sizes and was a walking sound byte every step of the way, always promising to destroy and demolish his opponents with devastating knockouts.

Darchinyan turned professional in Australia shortly after representing Armenia in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and after compiling what he claims was an amateur record of 158-18 with 105 KOs.

Darchinyan is best known for his wins against Irene Pacheco (TKO 11), Cristian Mijares (KO 9), Jorge Arce (RTD 11), Yonnhy Perez (TD), and Dmitry Kirillov (KO5) as well as his losses Nonito Donaire (TKO 5; TKO 9), Abner Mares (SD), Joseph Agbeko (UD), Anselmo Moreno (UD), Shinsuke Yamanaka (UD) and Nicholas Walters (KO 5).

Darchinyan (43-9,-1 32 KOs) fought for 17 years from 112-130 pounds. He's regarded as the greatest Armenian boxer of all time, along with Arthur Abraham.

The only feather missing from Darchinyan's cap is whether or not he'll get the call from Canostota, New York, one day for enshrinement into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame has a set number of nominees that are added to the ballot each election cycle, and Darchinyan hasn't been able to crack the list yet, but he has been and remains among those in consideration.

"I'm proud of everything I accomplished throughout my career, the championships I won and the opponents I faced," said Darchinyan. "I've received a lot of respect for the fights I delivered, and I'm grateful to be a part of boxing history."

Darchinyan first became a world titlist when he won the 112-pound IBF title in 2004 by ending Irene Pacheco's five-year flyweight reign. He defended the title six times before meeting his match in Nonito Donaire. Darchinyan was undefeated at the time but succumbed to Donaire's left hook from hell for the shocking upset knockout loss.

Darchinyan moved up to 115 pounds afterward and had a darling comeback.

He won the IBF title with a knockout win against Kirillov in 2008 and became the first three-belt unified champion at 115 pounds in the following fight when dominating a dangerous Mijares en route to a ninth-round KO. Darchinyan defended his titles against Arce three months later before vacating the belts to move up.

"I loved fighting Mexican fighters, especially in their backyard in Los Angeles, in front of my Armenian fans. Mexican fighters never ran from me. It made for exciting fights," Darchinyan said.

Darchinyan's ascent across 118 was not as fruitful. He beat durable gatekeepers but dropped disputed decisions against Mares and Agbeko and clearer decisions to Moreno and Yamanaka.

Darchinyan resurged as a prospect buster at 122 pounds by beating then-undefeated Luis Orlando Del Valle in 2012, but his brief super bantamweight run didn't yield a title shot.

Darchinyan delivered a turn-back-the-clock performance during a rematch and crossroads clash against Donaire at 126 pounds in 2013.

Darchinyan was outpointing Donaire and could have cruised to at least a majority decision win as he was closing strong during the 10-round contest. But as the ninth round unfolded, Darchinyan had revenge on his mind and was looking to knock out his rival. His desire to feast ultimately proved to be futile, as Donaire stopped him instead.

"I loved my fighting style and I wouldn't let anyone change it – you can't teach heart and desire," said Darchinyan. "I never backed down from anybody."

As Darchinyan moved up in weight, the power that previously pulverized his opponents no longer caused the same damage, and he was the one getting stopped by naturally bigger power punchers such as Nicholas Walters and Jesus Cuellar.

"Without a doubt, there would be more interest in boxing if all fighters were like Vic. The sport would be way better," the late Gary Shaw, Darchinyan's promoter, once said during the fighter's heyday. "He'll fight anybody, any time and at any weight."

Darchinyan retired in 2017 at 12-5 with 10 KOs in title fights as well as 10-7 with 8 KOs against current or former world titlists.

Nowadays, Darchinyan calls Armenia, Australia and Los Angeles home, as he spends parts of the year in each locale with his family.

He's also in the process of opening gyms in Armenia with hopes of one day breeding boxing's next big breakout star.

The following are the best fighters Darchinyan has faced across 10 categories, in his own words:

BEST JAB: Christian Mijares. He had a good jab, but I used my power to negate his jab. I pressed him in the corner and didn’t let him use his best asset. I took pride in taking my opponents off their game and disrupting whatever they loved to do.

BEST DEFENSE: Nobody. I didn't care for anyone's defense. Everyone knew my powerful left hand was coming — and most of them couldn’t handle it. I was trying to knock them out from the first round. But I would work the head and body and shoulders, anything that was available, with equal consistency. Sure, I lost some fights, but most were due to fighting out of my desired weight class toward the end of my career. I was never worried about anyone's defense.

BEST HAND SPEED: Christian Mijares. After he felt my power, his hand speed went away, but at the beginning of the fight, he was fast.

SMARTEST: Abner Mares. He must have hit me illegally like 20 times below the belt. He wanted to slow me down and to take away my power — so maybe he was smart for getting away with the roughhouse tactics. It's the referee's job to enforce the rules and the referee didn't do his job that night. Mares even got away with low blows against Joseph Agbeko. I invite everyone to rewatch the fight to see all of the errors the referee made. It was also the worst decision I experienced from the judges in my career. I'm still upset over the split-decision loss.

STRONGEST: Jesus Cuellar. I was doing pretty well in that fight and then he caught me with a powerful check counter right that knocked me down and I never recovered. He was a very big 126-pounder. I felt good about my chances had it gone the 12-round distance, but my corner had to stop the fight in the eighth round.

BEST PUNCHER: Nonito Donaire. He had a good left hook and did a great job timing me in both fights. He became known for his left hook throughout his entire career. That's why in the second fight, even though I was up on the scorecards and could have won the fight on points by cruising in the last two rounds, I still wanted to knock him out. I wanted to get my revenge, and that was my mistake. Donaire suffered a hairline fracture in his right eye in that fight. I think he felt my power.

BEST FOOTWORK: Christian Mijares. He moved great around the ring and boxed off his back foot. He had a lot of success against his previous opponents and I had to do a better job than him to cut off the ring. I eventually did, and I stopped him in the ninth round. That win gave me an even bigger name.

BEST CHIN: Jorge Arce. He's a good fighter. It was a great stylistic matchup. We were both power punchers. I didn't feel his power, though. I like him, he was a man. It didn’t matter how much I punched him, he still came forward. He didn't want to give up, and I love him for that. I felt like he'd be willing to die in the ring. He had balls. The doctor stopped the fight at the end of the 11th round because he had cuts across both eyes.

BEST BOXING SKILLS: Nonito Donaire. He was a great rival. I congratulated him afterward for a job well done. He was a clever fighter, made his name off of me.

BEST OVERALL: Irene Pacheco. At the time he was 30-0 and had defended his titles seven times in five years. I was his mandatory challenger and he didn’t want to fight me. He was avoiding me. But once I got the fight, I trained five hours a day preparing for him. I wanted to make sure I was ready for my breakout moment, and I proudly accomplished my goal with an 11th-round knockout win to win the IBF flyweight title — my first-ever world title.