Donaire Dominates Lopez on ShoBox

There was indeed no better way to get ready for this weekend’s anticipated super-fight between “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya and “El Matador” Ricardo Mayorga than to kick back and enjoy the exhilarating action on last night’s installment of ShoBox.

The main event of the evening was originally supposed to match up-and-coming flyweight star Nonito Donaire against Cesar Lopez for Lopez’s NABA Flyweight title, as well as the vacant WBO/NABO Flyweight title.

However, Donaire suffered a jaw injury while sparring for the fight, oddly enough from his brother, fellow flyweight Glenn Donaire. So instead of postponing the fight, Lopez figured he’d go for the other Donaire.

Hey, one Donaire is as good as the next… right?

Wrong.

At first it seemed as though Glenn Donaire was made to order for Lopez, seeing as he had only been matched against decent opposition three times in his career, posting a lousy 0-2-1 record.

Donaire lost a six round UD early in his career against Gabriel Elizonodo, now 21-1 (9 KO’s). Later on he was TKO’d in the first round by Z Gorres, now 23-1-1 (12 KO’s). In his last fight, Donaire fought to a draw with Jose Albuquerque, 6-1-2 (2 KO’s).

Lopez appeared extremely confident in the moments before the fight, and in the first couple of rounds. However, he would soon learn to never judge a book by its cover… or a fighter by his track record for that matter,

Here’s the rundown of last night’s fight for all of you that missed it.

Round one opened with both fighters exchanging jabs, trying to get a feel for one another. Soon enough Lopez began landing more punches as he started to slip and counter many of Donaire’s attacks. Donaire caught Lopez with a nice hook and then a right, but Lopez’s movement prevented the shots from landing clean. Round one went to Lopez.

Round two started with a string of crisp jabs by Lopez as he began to dictate the pace of the fight, often beating Donaire to the punch. Donaire then started coming back with some nice hooks to the body, trying to take away Lopez’s best weapon, his legs. Donaire continued his assault to the body until Lopez broke free and landed a few nice combos. Round two, even.

The third began with some even exchanges followed by a hard right by Donaire. Lopez began leaving himself way too open as he would attempt to jump in and out like a jackrabbit. Donaire landed a few nice power shots in the pocket followed by some vicious combos by Lopez. Round three, also even.

The fourth round was the turnaround in the fight. It opened with some nice jabs by Donaire followed by a sweet right hand. Donaire continued to apply intense pressure to Lopez, landing some brutal right hands. Donaire carried on with the onslaught, landing powerful combinations to the head and body. Round four was clearly all Donaire.

The fifth started with a sweet 1-2 by Donaire setting up a series of hard right hands. The relentless Donaire just kept putting on the pressure with hard combinations as Lopez began to look tired, and possibly even hurt. Donaire continued the assault and battery of Lopez with some nice body work to end another shutout round.

Lopez began throwing more punches again in the sixth round, only to have Donaire walk right through them with no effect. Donaire walked into a few combos by Lopez but continued to apply pressure. An even exchange brought an end to an even round.

Round seven showed some nice jabs by Donaire in the opening minute followed by some more body work, which was apparently working seeing as Lopez was no longer doing his rabbit impression. Some more body work in addition to a few hard combinations ended another big round for Donaire.

The eighth started with a lead right by Donaire, followed by some combinations to the noggin of Lopez. That apparently lit a fire under Lopez’s backside for a few minutes as he began throwing and landing much more frequently. After some even exchanges the round came to and end. Lopez’s round because he was busier.

Round nine displayed Donaire ability to pick off shots while at the same time applying pressure and landing combinations. Lopez attempted to stay active but continued to get countered by Donaire time and time again. The round ended with some infighting and with Donaire winning most of the exchanges

The tenth began with Donaire setting up that sweet right hand with some fast, crisp jabs. Donaire continued his dominance as he proceeded to counter almost everything that was thrown his way. Lopez tried to steal the round in Sugar Ray Leonard fashion by throwing a few flurries in the last 15 seconds or so. Sorry, it just wasn’t enough.

In round eleven, Lopez started hopping around again, but he wasn’t throwing any punches. Just as that thought had run through my mind Lopez threw a punch… to the genitals of Donaire. After Lopez was warned the action resumed, as Donaire consistently stalked Lopez with jabs and hard rights. The round came to an end with a nice little exchange at the end, with neither fighter really getting the best of it.

The last round was the stereotypical twelfth round for the most part, Donaire was attempting to lay back as the not so heavy-handed Lopez tried to knock his head off and back to the Philippines. The action was halted as Lopez delivered another low blow, this time resulting in a point deduction. Donaire took about 30 seconds to compose himself and came back in a bad mood as he began going after Lopez again. Lopez then landed some combos only to have Donaire come right back with some right hands. The round was even but went 10-9 to Donaire because of the low blow.

At the end of a thrilling 12 rounds there were no arguments as to who the winner was. The judges scored the bout 115-112, 117-110, and 116-111 all for the winner, and new NABA and WBO/NABO Flyweight champion, Glenn Donaire.

TheSweetScience scored the fight 118-113 in favor of Donaire.

Donaire’s record improves to 16-2-1 (9 KO’s), while Lopez falls to 18-3 (4 KO’s).

After this truly amazing performance by Glenn Donaire, hopefully he will start getting the recognition he without doubt deserves in addition to breaking out of the shadow of his older brother.

This exciting fighter will truly be a contender in the flyweight division.