Is The “Filipino Flash’s” Inner Fire Burning Out?

Published

4 years ago

November 2, 2018

Alarms went off in the boxing world when Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire signed up to compete in the Bantamweight division at the second World Boxing Super Series (WBSS). This is because Donaire hasn’t fought in the 118lb weight class since 2011, when he won both the WBC and WBA titles.

The “Filipino Flash” (38-5-0, 24 KOs) will return the 3rd of November at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland against an adversary who will truly put his experience to the test and force him to showcase his current skill level. The opponent in question is none other than the Irishman Ryan Burnett, the WBA Super World Champion. They will be competing not only for the aforementioned title, but also for the vacant WBC Diamond Title.

Its also interesting that Burnett (19-0-0, 9 KOs), as the champion, specifically chose Donaire to be his opponent in the quarterfinals; a decision he made at a gala, which was held the 20th of July, at the Rossiya Theatre, in Moscow, Russia. Perhaps this choice was influenced by Donaire’s age (35 years), his deteriorating physique after 17 years in the sport, and an overall decline in his athletic performance.

The 26-year-old Burnett has stated in multiple interviews and on social media his reasoning for choosing the Filipino as his opponent insisting that Donaire is an extraordinary champion, a fighter who has conquered world titles in four divisions and that, with this match up, he will be forced to bring out the best in himself.

Burnett and Donaire, as well as the other participants of the WBSS, will have to overcome the obstacle that is the Japanese Naoya Inoue (17-0-0, 15 KOs), winner by KO in the 1st round against the Dominican Juan Carlos Payano, October 7th, at Yokohama Arena, in Japan. The fight only lasted one minute and 10 seconds, with Inoue defending and retaining the WBA World Bantamweight Title.

The winner of Burnett vs Donaire will compete in the semifinals against the South African Zolani “The Last Born” Tete (28-3-0, 21 KOs), who unanimously defeated the inexperienced Russian Mijail Aloyan on the 13th of October in Yekaterinburg, Russia, successfully defending the WBO World Bantamweight Title. Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Inoue will face off against the Puerto Rican Emmanuel “Manny” Rodríguez, who defeated the Australian Jason Moloney by split decision on the 20th of October in Orlando, Florida.

Nonito Donaire faces a great challenge

The World Super Series represents a huge challenge for Donaire. If he were to suffer a loss, especially by way of knockout, it could mean the end of his career. Donaire has only lost this way once before at the hands of the Jamaican Nicholas “The Axe Man” Walters in the Featherweight division in 2014. If history were to repeat itself, it would indicate that Donaire has little or nothing left to offer inside the ring.

Nevertheless, Donaire deserves the highest level of praise for his brilliant career, which includes five world titles. Donaire climbed to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings thanks to his technical excellence and devastatingly powerful left hook, which he learned in his teenage years from watching videos of the deceased legend, Nicaraguan boxer Alexis Argüello. Its worth remembering that Donaire debuted with a spectacular 1st round KO in 2001, and despite loosing his second fight by unanimous decision, he proceeded to ascend like a rocket ship into the firmament of boxing greatness.

“The Jackal” Rigondeaux brings an end to the streak

After the loss against the American Rosendo Sánchez, March 10th of 2001, at the Pacific Sports Center in Vallejo, California, Donaire accumulated 30 consecutive victories over the course of 12 years. This impressive streak was brought to a halt when Donaire was defeated by the Cuban Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux, April 13th of 2013, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. With this victory, Rigondeaux unified his WBA Super World Super Bantamweight Title with Donaire’s WBO World Super Bantamweight Title.

Following his loss at the hands of the Cuban Southpaw, Donaire took a 7 month break. He later returned on the 9th of December in a rematch against the Armenian Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan. After an intense battle, the “Filipino Flash” defeated The Armenian for a second time by technical knockout in the 9th round. This was Donaire’s debut in the Featherweight division.

Defeated by Nicholas Walters

Donaire returned to the ring in May of 2014 to face the WBO Super World Featherweight champion the South African Simphiwe Vetyeka. The fight was stopped after 4 rounds due to a cut over Donaire’s left eyebrow, declaring him winner by technical decision.

Donaire’s next fight was against the Jamaican knockout artist Nicholas Walters on October 18th of 2014 at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California. The Filipino suffered the first knockdown of his career in the 3rd round, due to a powerful right hook from his opponent. Walters took advantage of an opening in Donaire’s defense in the 6th round, landing a powerful shot to the head that sent the Filipino to the canvas in bad condition. Even though Donaire was able to get up to his feet, the referee called a stop to the contest seconds before the end of the round, making Walters the new champion.

WBO Super Bantamweight Champion

Donaire returned to the 122lb division and, after scoring a few knockout victories, once again raised the WBO title when he unanimously defeated the Mexican César “Corazón” Juárez on December 11th of 2015 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Donaire came out of his next fight with his hand raised, but was then defeated by the American southpaw Jessie Magdaleno in November of 2016 at the Thomas and Mack Center, in Nevada.

The shift in weight classes continued as Donaire unanimously defeated the young Mexican Featherweight Rubén “El Tibio” García, acquiring the vacant WBC Silver Title. But in his next bout, which took place in April of this year, Donaire suffered a unanimous decision loss against the Irish Carl “The Jackal” Frampton in Belfast, North Ireland.

The Super World Series offers millions in prize money and the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Is Donaire ready to descend two weight classes and deliver a good, solid performance? Or is the “Filipino Flash’s” inner fire burning out, resulting in him finding himself at the point of inevitable retirement? The answers are close. Very close.

Translated by E.G. for J.J. Alvarez of Boxeo.tv

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

To comment on this article at The Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.

Post Views: 0

J.J. Alvarez

Up Next

Berchelt vs. Roman Preview

Don't Miss

Ultimate Boxxer II

Rey Vargas: “The featherweight title is absolutely still mine”

Published

2 hours ago

February 4, 2023

J.J. Alvarez

Rey-Vargas-The-Featherweight-Title-is-Absolutely-Still-Mine

Although there have been many speculations and comments about his boxing future, Mexican Rey Vargas affirms with total conviction that he will only decide after his fight against American O’Shaquie Foster on February 11th at the Alamodome in Texas.

Undefeated and current WBC featherweight champion, Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs) will seek to add the vacant WBC super featherweight belt that American southpaw Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) lost on the scale last September when he beat Brazilian Robson Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs) by unanimous decision.

Referring to his 126-pound title, Vargas expressed via a translator, “The featherweight title is absolutely still mine, so no worries about that. As far as 130, this is definitely an interesting challenge, an interesting place to be. We haven’t really decided what we’re gonna do afterwards, but we’re focused on the moment right now. Let’s focus on this fight, on this great crowd that we’re gonna be in front of, and then whatever happens, it will come after this fight.”

Born 32 years ago in the Federal District and residing in Otumba, Mexico, Vargas captured the world featherweight belt in February 2017, defeating Gavin McDonnell (22-2-3, 6 KOs) by majority decision at the Ice Arena in McDonnell’s hometown of Hull, England.

During the following two years, he made five successful defenses and in November 2021 he was victorious in a 10-round bout against his compatriot Leonardo Báez (21-5, 12 KOs) at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Eight months later, in his second appearance at 126 pounds, Vargas defeated then-undefeated Philippine champion Mark Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) by split decision. Magsayo was defending his WBC belt for the first time that night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

After beating Magsayo, Vargas’s representatives made arrangements to collide with Mexican Leo Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs), who at that time was the WBA featherweight super champion.

However, the agreement with Santa Cruz did not materialize and Vargas directed his attention towards the 130-pound belt, which Stevenson lost at the weigh-in in September. Considering his status as champion, the WBC agreed to Vargas’ request and ordered him to compete with O’Foster, who is ranked at the top of the category.

In a statement on its website, the WBC specified that the winner between Vargas and Foster has the obligation to make two defenses, according to the rules and regulations of that sanctioning body.

“The Leo Santa Cruz fight is definitely something that we have been meaning to do for years now,” Vargas said. “But as the process got more complicated and other stuff just kept getting in our way, this door opened for us where it was definitely an interesting challenge, something that can be as good as the Leo Santa Cruz fight.”

“(I’m) in a new division, the super featherweight division, where I can test myself,” said Vargas. Yes, it’s not my division per se, but I’m always up to new and exciting challenges, and this is definitely one of them. So, even though this isn’t the Leo Santa Cruz fight, it can definitely live up to the hype just as that one would.”

Foster (19-2, 11 KOs) has nine successive wins, the most recent against Tajikistan southpaw Muhammadkhuja Yakubon on March 18 of last year in Dubai, where they fought for the WBC silver belt.

Born 29 years ago in Orange, Texas, Foster said in an interview that this opportunity to face Vargas for the 130-pound crown “is a dream come true. And I’m so happy I can’t even hide it.”

Foster continued, “It’s something that I’ve been working for since I was eight years old. I never had a dream to be an Olympian, it was always to be a world champion so I’m feeling great and I’m ready to put on a show for the world.

“I feel like everything is happening at the right time and it’s my time to take over. I would love to unify once I get the title and then go undisputed if I can. I’ve got big, big, big aspirations coming up. We’re going to make it happen.”

Article submitted by Jorge Juan Álvarez in Spanish.

Please note any adjustments made were for clarification purposes and any errors in translation were unintentional.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Navarrete Overcomes Adversity to TKO Wilson in a Corker

Published

14 hours ago

February 3, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Navarrete-Overcomes-Adversity-to-TKO-Wilson-in-a-Corker

Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete won his 31st straight fight, pushing his record to 37-1 (31) and captured a title in a third weight class tonight at the Desert Diamond Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, but nearly came a cropper himself in a match in which both he and his opponent Liam Wilson were on the deck and hurt on multiple occasions. At stake was the WBO 130-pound belt vacated by Shakur Stevenson.

The obscure 26-year-old Wilson, subbing for Oscar Valdez who had to pull out with a rib injury, was making his U.S. debut and appearing in his first scheduled 12-rounder. The skinny on him was that he had a puncher’s chance because of a powerful left hook, but with only 12 pro fights on his ledger he was a massive underdog.

Navarrete got a taste of that left hook in the fourth round which Wilson landed after landing a hard overhand right, and suddenly it appeared that the Queenslander was poised to score the biggest upset in Australian boxing history since Jeff Horn upended Manny Pacquiao. Navarrete hit the deck, lost his mouthpiece and was clearly hurt, but managed to survive the round after precious seconds elapsed as he was getting his mouthpiece re-fitted.

Navarrete fought his way back into the fight and was having a strong sixth round until the final 30 seconds when Wilson hurt him again, this time with a right hook. But the Mexican weathered the storm, winning the next two rounds decisively and closed the show in round nine when he put the intrepid Aussie on the deck with an overhand right, the prelude to an assault that forced the referee to waive it off.

Semi-windup

In a tactical junior welterweight fight that heated up in the final round, LA’s Arnold Barboza continued his steady ascent toward a title fight with a narrow but unanimous decision over Puerto Rican veteran Jose Pedraza, a former Olympian and world title-holder in two weight divisions.

Barboza, who fights well off his back foot but isn’t a hard puncher, won by scores of 97-93 and 96-94 twice to push his record to 28-0. The 33-year-old Barboza fell to 29-5-1.

Also

In the opening bout on ESPN’s main platform, Tulare, California’s Richard Torrez Jr, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Summer Games, scored his fifth fast knockout in as many opportunities at the expense late sub James Bryant

Torrez came out like gangbusters, as is his custom, and sent Bryant stumbling back into the ropes with a harsh left uppercut followed by a straight hand in the waning seconds of the opening round. A highly decorated high school football player in Pennsylvania who had a cup of coffee with two NFL teams, Bryant, 37, was saved by the bell but elected not to come out for round two.

Torrez has mentioned that he would welcome a fight with British up-and-comer Frazer Clarke. Both were defeated in the Tokyo Olympics by fearsome Uzbek southpaw Bakhodir Jalolov, the heavy favorite.

ESPN+

Las Vegas super featherweight Andres Cortes (19-0) overcame a deep cut on his left eyelid to keep his undefeated record intact with a lopsided decision over Luis Melendez. The cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads in round six. Cut man deluxe “Stitch” Duran used his magic potion to stem the bleeding and the match continued on its established course. Cortes, the busier fighter, won all 10 rounds on all three cards. Melendez, a Puerto Rican from Hialeah, Florida, declined to 17-3.

Nico Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali’s grandson, advanced to 8-0 (5) with a unanimous decision over a local fighter, Eduardo Ayala (9-3-1), in a six-round middleweight affair. The scores were 60-53 and 59-54 twice.

Walsh, who sparred with Caleb Plant in preparation for this fight, had Ayala on the canvas in round two, compliments of a short right hand, but his durable opponent managed to last the distance.

In an 8-round junior welterweight match, Mexico’s Lindolfo Delgado, a 2016 Rio Olympian, advanced to 17-0 (13) with a unanimous decision over Clarence Booth (21-7), a 35-year-old Floridian. The scores were 80-71 and 79-72 twice.

The heavy-handed Delgado, who had Robert Garcia in his corner, scored the fight’s lone knockdown, knocking Booth off his pins in the final stanza with a chopping right hand to the ear.

In the ESPN+ opener, 18-year-old Emiliano Vargas (3-0, 2 KOs) won a 4-round unanimous decision over 19-year-old Tex-Mex southpaw Francisco Duque (1-2). Vargas won all four rounds, but Duque had several good moments.

Emiliano Vargas is the youngest and most well-touted of three fighting sons of Fernando Vargas, the former U.S. Olympian and two-time world super welterweight champion.

A 10-round super featherweight fight between Zavier Martinez (18-1) and Yohan Vasquez (25-3) was cancelled when it became obvious that Martinez would not make the contracted weight.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Avila Perspective, Chap. 223: An Act of War Benavidez vs Plant Press Confab

Published

18 hours ago

February 3, 2023

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-223-Am-Act-of-War-Benavidez-vs-Plant-Press-Confab

LOS ANGELES-Heated words straight out of a burning furnace filled the cool air in downtown L.A. at the press conference on Thursday for top super middleweight contenders David Benavidez and Caleb Plant.

“Every fighter has one of these grudge matches that brings the best out of them. I don’t like Caleb at all, but I want to thank him for bringing the animal out of me. I’m more motivated than ever,” said Benavidez. “On March 25, I finally get to put hands on Caleb Plant.”

Plant was cool in his response.

“This rivalry only started because we agree to disagree on who’s better. And that’s fine, he should feel like that. That’s how great fighters are supposed to feel. It’s slowly built up over time,” said Plant.

Both are former world champions and both are ready to engage.

A large media turnout arrived at the Conga Room in LA Live to witness the two opposite style fighters, much like fire and ice.

Fiery Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) seemed eager to fight on the stage as the mere presence and cool demeanor of Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) seemed to ignite anger. They have both agreed to meet in the prize ring on March 25, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Showtime pay-per-view will televise the TGB Promotions card.

“If you know anything about boxing, you know this is one of the very best fights that can be made in the sport. The consensus No. 1 and No. 2 contenders in this division,” said Stephen Espinoza president of Showtime boxing. “This is a high-stakes matchup, personally and professionally. There’s a personal rivalry here. There are bragging rights here. There is supremacy in the division at stake.”

Both fighters have held world titles before and for years debates sprung up on who was better.

Benavidez was the youngest super middleweight champion at 20 when he first won the WBC version in 2017 defeating Ronald Gavril. He lost the title for testing positive for illegal substances the next year. In 2019 he faced Anthony Dirrell for the WBC title again and stopped him in nine rounds in Los Angeles. However, he failed to make weight in his next fight and lost the title again on the scales.

He is hungry to regain a world title but even more hungry to defeat Plant.

“I’ve been wanting to fight him for a long time and now the winner of this fight gets to be the mandatory for Canelo Alvarez. I’m super motivated,” Benavidez said.

Plant agrees that their match up is motivating because the winner gets Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and a hefty payday.

“I knew I was next in line to fight the interim champ before that fight, and that meant David Benavidez. I’m in the fight that I want,” said Plant who formerly held the IBF title.

Plant’s last fight was voted WBA Knockout of the Year when he double-left-hooked Dirrell to unconsciousness last October in Brooklyn. It was a shocking ending. His fight before that saw him lose the world title to Canelo Alvarez by knockout.

No shame in losing to Canelo.

Now the title former world titlists are eager to regain their former status and grab a mega payday fighting Alvarez. It’s perhaps the best fight in over a year for men’s boxing.

“I believe that this fight between David Benavidez and Caleb Plant will be added to the list of epic brawls between two warriors taking it to the next level,” said Tom Brown of TGB Promotions. “This fight will be one of, if not the winner of Fight of the Year this year. This is one you don’t want to miss.”

Top Rank

Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs) challenges Australia’s Liam Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs) for the vacant WBO super featherweight title today, Feb. 3, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank card.

Wilson, 26, has never fought outside of Australia but is known for his strength and power. He is also taller than Navarrete.

Navarrete and Wilson

Navarrete is the former WBO featherweight champion and has not lost a fight in over a decade.

Also, Arnold Barboza (27-0) meets Jose Pedraza (29-4-1) in a super lightweight battle. And several others such as Lindolfo Delgado, Richard Torrez and Nico Ali Walsh will be performing.

Ontario Card

Southern California’s hot super lightweight prospect Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (8-0, 8 Kos) fights Jose Angulo (14-4) at the LumColor Center in Ontario, California on Saturday, Feb. 4. RedBoxing Promotions is staging the event.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Photo credits: Esther Lin / SHOWTIME; Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0