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Nonito Donaire says “I’m the Knockout Guy in This Fight”
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Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire clash on Nov. 7 in suburban Tokyo at the Saitama Super Arena in the bantamweight finals of the World Boxing Super Series. At stake are WBA and IBF world title belts and the coveted Muhammad Ali Trophy. Inoue, nicknamed “Monster,” is a heavy favorite.
Nonito Donaire, who turns 38 the week after the fight, has won world titles in four weight classes: 112, 118, 122, and 127. Some day in the future he will, almost assuredly, be enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. But – and although he has been stopped only once in 45 fights, that as a featherweight – hardly anyone likes his chances to stay upright on Nov. 7.
To say that Naoya Inoue has been impressive in his recent outings would be an understatement. His last three fights against title-holders Jamie McDonnell, Juan Carlos Payano, and Emmanuel Rodriguez lasted only six minutes and 21 seconds in the aggregate. None of the three had been stopped before. Payano and Rodriguez had never been dropped.
The noted Scottish boxing historian Matt McGrain has been unstinting in his praise. “The pathology of his violence is exquisite,” said McGrain of Inoue in a story that ran on these pages. “He is a watching, waiting, learning doom-machine that appears to have been programmed by Carlos Zarate.” (Note: Zarate scored 63 knockouts in his 70-bout career.)
Inoue’s triumph over Payano, which took him all of 70 seconds, was feted by a cover story in The Ring magazine, making the baby-faced assassin the first Japanese fighter to appear on the magazine’s cover in the 119-year history of that august publication. If Inoue (18-0, 16 KOs) can reprise the wow factor vs. Donaire, he will likely be named the 2019 Fighter of the Year in all the year-end polls – unless Andy Ruiz can repeat his upset of Anthony Joshua, in which case the voters will have a thorny dilemma.
Nonito Donaire, the Filipino Flash, is nonplussed. A pro since 2001, Donaire (40-5, 26 KOs) is confident that he can derail the Inoue Express.
“People seem to have forgotten that I have a knockout punch too,” says Donaire. “In my mind, if knockouts are going to be the theme of the promotion, I should get top billing.”
Indeed, he certainly does have a knockout punch. His brutal knockouts of Vic Darchinyan in 2007 and Fernando Montiel in 2011 were named Knockout of the Year by the aforementioned The Ring. And his knockout of late sub Stephon Young in his most recent start is a candidate for that honor again. In the sixth round of their fight in Lafayette, Louisiana, Donaire knocked Young out cold with a thunderous left hook.
Donaire may have gotten a break when his second-round opponent Zolani Tete was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, but it’s worth noting that he was the underdog going into this tournament. Top seed Ryan Burnett had his pick of the four unseeded entrants and chose Donaire, effectively making Donaire the eighth seed of an eight-man tournament.
Donaire could see the logic. The undefeated (19-0) Burnett, reportedly 94-4 as an amateur, was the younger man by almost 10 years. Donaire would be coming down in weight; almost seven years had elapsed since he had last fought as a bantamweight. His recent showings, he readily admitted, were lackluster. He was outpointed by Jessie Magdaleno and Carl Frampton in fights spaced 17 months apart. And finally, the fight would be in Glasgow, a regional site advantage for Burnett, an Irishman from Belfast.
In the fourth round, Burnett took a knee after apparently suffering a lower back injury after throwing a right hand. He retired on his stool after that round and was stretchered out of the ring. The conventional version is that he suffered a freak injury and Nonito is perfectly fine with that narrative. “People are entitled to their opinion,” he says nonchalantly.
Outside the ring, Donaire isn’t a fighter, but the same can’t be said for his manager who is insistent that Burnett’s injury was caused by a body punch and that Burnett was stretchered out of the ring to save face, thereby denying her husband his proper due.
Yes, Donaire’s manager happens to be the woman that he sleeps with, the mother of their two children, boys aged six and four. She’s not only his manager, but his strength and conditioning coach. “She pretty much runs everything,” says Donaire. “She’s 99 percent the boss.”
Nonito Donaire was born in the Philippines in the same town where Manny Pacquiao was born, the third youngest of four children. His parents left him and one of his siblings with his grandparents when they migrated to the United States, sending for them as soon as his father, a welder, could afford their passage. He arrived in the U.S. at the age of 10 and grew into adulthood in San Leandro, a community on the east side of the San Francisco Bay.
Donaire won his first title in 2007 with his explosive knockout of Darchinyan. Later that year, at a Bay Area club, he met Rachel Marcial, his future wife. She had spent five years in the U.S. Air Force and was a big name in the sport of Taekwondo, having won numerous military and civilian titles. Since 2011, their primary home has been in Las Vegas.
Rachel Marcial Donaire doesn’t fit the stereotype of a female prizefighter with a military background. In 2012, the pert Filipina-American was named the 38th sexiest woman on the planet in the Filipino edition of the popular international men’s magazine FHM in their annual listing of the 100 sexiest women in the world. As power couples in boxing go, Nonito and Rachel are the second-most “paparazzi-ed” in the Philippines, trailing only Senator Manny and Jinkee.
Rachel (pictured on the far right beside her husband at a Tokyo press conference) believes her Air Force background was hugely advantageous in preparing her for her role as the boss of Team Donaire. “It helped me to be very good at having an attention to detail, not letting things slide. Especially with Nonito’s camp, we have become a very efficient team because of the way I was brought through in the military,” she told David Kelly, a writer for the Belfast Telegraph.
Beginning with his father, Nonito has had several boxing coaches over the years. For a time, he was with the Cuban globetrotter Ismael Salas. That didn’t work out and now he’s with old salt Kenny Adams who is perhaps best known as the head trainer of the 1988 U.S. Olympic boxing team that won eight medals in Seoul. Nonito’s relationship with his father has been rocky at times, but things are now copacetic and dad will be in the corner with Adams on Nov. 7.
Earlier this week, this reporter attended a workout by Donaire held behind a closed curtain at the City Boxing Club in Las Vegas. It was a vigorous workout with few dead moments that included a zesty sparring session with South African toughie DeeJay Kriel. Later that afternoon, Donaire had another workout scheduled at a park that involved exercises customized for him by Rachel, a certified fitness instructor. One doubts that even professional triathletes are as well-conditioned.
Team Donaire shifts its training camp to the Philippines on Oct. 18. (Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Las Vegas but only one hour ahead of Manila, an important consideration.) Then it’s off to Japan for the bout that will be contested in that nation’s largest indoor stadium. The promoters, say Rachel, anticipate a crowd somewhat north of 20,000.
Regardless of the outcome, Donaire says he has no plans to retire any time soon. “This division (118) is where I belong,” he says. “It’s always where I felt most comfortable. I love boxing and I am very healthy.”
Inoue vs. Donaire will air live in North America on DAZN. The odds are skewed heavily in favor of the local guy, but it’s yet a very compelling fight.
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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez
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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.
Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.
Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.
In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.
“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.
Other Bouts
Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.
Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.
Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.
Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.
A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.
It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.
In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.
Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.
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The Return of David Alaverdian
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By TSS Special Correspondent David Harazduk — After David Alaverdian (8-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a gritty victory against a tough Nicaraguan journeyman named Enrique Irias, his plans suddenly changed. The flashy flyweight from Nahariya, Israel hoped to face even tougher opposition and then challenge for a world title within a year or so. But a prolonged illness forced David to rip up the script.
The Irias fight was over 22 months ago. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Alaverdian will be making his first appearance in the ring since that win when he faces veteran road warrior Josue “Zurdo” Morales (31-16-4, 13 KOs) at the Westgate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the fifth promotion by Las Vegas attorney Stephen Reid whose inaugural card was at this venue on Feb. 13, 2020.
“I’m excited to come back,” Alaverdian declared.
During his preparation for Irias two years ago, Alaverdian felt fatigue after a routine six-round sparring session. “It was on April 1, 2023, about ten days before my fight. It felt like an April Fool’s joke,” he said. He came down with a sore throat, a headache, and congestion. He soon developed trouble breathing. At first, he thought his seasonal asthma had flared up, but his condition soon worsened. No matter what he did, Alaverdian could no longer take deep breaths. Fatigue continued to plague him. His heart constantly raced. Instead of breathing from his diaphragm, he was breathing from his chest. He sought out numerous doctors in the United States and in Israel.
His symptoms were finally diagnosed as Dysfunctional Breathing (DB). DB is a condition that can stem from stress and is often misdiagnosed. Its symptoms include dyspnea and tachycardia, both of which David experienced.
While receiving treatment, the Vegas-based pro went back to Israel where he coached aspiring fighters. “David’s influence on Israeli boxing is amazing, because he shows we can succeed in a big business even though we come from a small country,” said another undefeated Israeli flyweight, 20-year-old Yonatan Landman (7-0, 7 KOs). “A lot more Israelis are going to dare to succeed.”
Landman was able to work with Alaverdian during David’s return to Israel. “He is a great guy and a friend,” Landman said. “He has a lot of willingness to help, share his knowledge, and help you move forward.”
Alaverdian finally started to feel like he could compete again eight months ago. He won last year’s Israeli national amateur championship and competed in Olympic qualifiers. Now, he’s preparing to fight as a professional once again. “He doesn’t mention anything about [his breathing issues] like he did before,” his coach Cedric Ferguson said about this camp. “He’s been working like there’s no issue at all.”
It has been a whirlwind week for the 31-year-old Alaverdian. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his preparation ahead of Saturday’s comeback fight, David got married on Tuesday. His mom came over from Israel for the wedding and will stay for the fight. “It’s a good distraction,” David said of this week’s significant events. “It helps me. That way I don’t have to focus on the fight all day.”
Josue Morales, a 32 year old from Houston, hopes to play spoiler on Saturday. The crafty southpaw has never been stopped during his 52-fight career. “He’s a seasoned guy with a lot of experience,” Alaverdian said of Morales. “He knows how to move around the ring and is more of a technical boxer. He’s a tough opponent for someone who has been out of the ring for two years.”
A win Saturday night would complete a monumental week for David Alaverdian, both in and out of the ring, repairing the once-shredded script.
Doors open at the Westgate fight arena at 6:30 pm. The first bout goes at 7:00. Seven fights are scheduled including an 8-round female fight between Las Vegas light flyweight Yadira Bustillos and Argentine veteran Tamara Demarco.
NOTE: Author David Harazduk has run The Jewish Boxing Blog since 2010. You can find him at Twitter/X @JewishBoxing and Instagram.
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
Saturday’s fight card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, topped by the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for undisputed light heavyweight supremacy, was being hyped as the greatest boxing card ever. That was before Daniel Dubois took ill and had to pull out of his IBF world heavyweight title defense against Joseph Parker, yielding his slot to last-minute replacement Martin Bakole.
The view from here is that the card remains in the running for the best fight card ever, top to bottom. The public didn’t view Dubois as the legitimate heavyweight champion. That distinction goes to Oleksandr Usyk.
Terms like “greatest” are, of course, subjective. Are we referring to the most attractive match-ups or the greatest array of talent, or the card that gives the most satisfaction by churning out a multiplicity of entertaining fights?
We won’t know how satisfying this card is until after the fact. We won’t know whether the talent on display was the greatest ever assembled on one night until many years have passed. Contestants such as Shakur Stevenson, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Hamzah Sheeraz are still in their twenties (Stevenson is the oldest of the three at age 27) and it’s too soon to gauge if they will leave the sport with a great legacy.
As for which fight card in history had the deepest pool of attractive match-ups, this is a query that is amenable to an operational definition. Betting lines are a useful tool for informing us whether or not a fight warrants our attention if the likelihood of witnessing a closely-contested bout is our primary consideration.
Based on these factors, I would submit that the current leader in the race for the best card ever assembled goes to Don King’s May 7, 1994 promotion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Six future Hall of Famers – Julio Cesar Chavez, Ricardo Lopez, Azumah Nelson, Terry Norris, Julian Jackson, and Christy Martin — were on that card, an 11-fight, eight-hour marathon with five WBC world title fights, four of which were rematches.
These were the five title fights:
140 pounds: Julio Cesar Chavez (89-1-1, 77 KOs) vs. Frankie Randall (49-2-1, 39 KOs)
Odds: Chavez 3/1 (minus-300)
154 pounds: Terry Norris (37-4, 23 KOs) vs. Simon Brown (41-2, 30 KOs)
Odds: even (11/10 and take your pick)
160 pounds: Gerald McClellan (30-2, 28 KOs) vs. Julian Jackson (48-2, 45 KOs)
Odds: McClellan 7/2 (minus-350)
130 pounds: Azumah Nelson (37-2-2, 26 KOs) vs. Jesse James Leija (27-0-2, 13 KOs)
Odds: Nelson 17/10 (minus-170)
105 pounds: Ricardo Lopez (36-0, 27 KOs) vs. Kermin Guardia (21-0, 14 KOs)
Odds: none
Results
Chavez-Randall — Julio Cesar Chavez avenged his loss to Frankie Randall, but not without controversy. An accidental clash of heads in the eighth round left Chavez with a bad gash on his forehead. Ring physician Flip Homansky would have allowed the bout to continue if that had been Chavez’s preference, but El Gran Campeon wasn’t so inclined. A WBC rule specified that in the event of a significant injury accruing from an accidental head butt, the less-damaged fighter is penalized a point. The fight went to the scorecards where Chavez won a split decision that would have been a draw without the point deduction. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Chavez, but the big bets were mostly on Randall and the odds got nicked down on the day of the fight.
Brown-Norris — In their first meeting in December of the previous year, Simon Brown dominated Terry Norris from the opening bell before stopping him in the fourth round. It was a massive upset. Norris was in the conversation for the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. In the rematch, Norris opened a slight favorite, but the late money was on Brown. And, once again, the so-called “sharps” were on the wrong side. Terry Norris, the would-be avenger, won a comfortable decision.
McClellan-Jackson — A murderous puncher, Gerald McClellan bombed out Julian Jackson in 83 seconds, or four rounds quicker than in their first engagement. Jackson was also a murderous puncher and attracted money in the sports books, lowering the price on the victorious McClellan who yet remained a solid favorite.
Nelson-Leija – WBC President Jose Sulaiman mandated this rematch after the first meeting ended in a draw after an error was found in the tabulation of one of the scorecards, overturning the original verdict which had Nelson retaining his title on a split decision. Leija thought he was robbed and was the rightful winner in the do-over, outworking Nelson to win a unanimous decision. At age 35, Azumah was getting long in the tooth.
Lopez-Guardia – Before the digital age, bookmakers didn’t trifle to post lines on bouts that on paper were egregious mismatches, save perhaps a fight of great magnitude. Guardia, the Colombian challenger, overachieved by lasting the distance in a fight with no knockdowns, but “Finito” won a lopsided decision.
A Note on Odds
Betting lines serve a useful purpose for boxing historians; they quantify the magnitude of an upset. However, quoting odds is tricky because they are fluid and vary somewhat from place to place. What this means is that two journalists can quote different odds on the same event and they both can get it right – unless there is a significant disparity. The odds quoted above are the closing lines at the MGM Grand or, at the very least, a very close approximation.
Saturday in Riyadh
One reason why tomorrow’s fight card is the best ever, said the tub-thumpers, is that the card (in its original conformation) included seven world title fights. But that’s no big deal There are so many title fights nowadays that the term “world title” has been trivialized. And what wasn’t acknowledged is that three of the title fights were of the “interim” stripe.
However – and this is a big deal — a glance at the odds informs us that tomorrow’s card is chock-full of competitive match-ups (at least on paper) and from that aspect, a blend of quality and quantity, it is a doozy of a boxing card.
The greatest boxing linemaker of my generation, now deceased, once told me that any fight where the “chalk” was less than a 3/1 favorite is essentially a “pick-‘em” fight. Yes, I know that makes no sense mathematically. However, I know what he was getting at. In a baseball game, for example, it’s very rare to find a team favored by odds of more than 3/1. In boxing, where self-serving promoters are constantly feeding us King Kong vs. Mickey Mouse, odds higher than 3/1 are the norm.
As this is being written, there are six fights on Saturday’s card where one could play the favorite without laying more than 3/1. I believe this is unprecedented. Moreover, the main event and a fascinating match-up on the undercard, Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov, are virtual toss-ups with the favorites, Beterbiev and Ortiz, currently available at 5/4 (minus-125). Another very intriguing fight is the heavyweight contest between late bloomers Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang which finds the less-heralded Kabayel cloaked as a small favorite. And kudos to Joseph Parker for accepting Martin Bakole when he could have held out for a lesser opponent. If Bakole is in shape (a big “if”), he will be a handful.
And so, where does tomorrow’s card rank on the list of best boxing cards ever? Right up there near the top, we would argue, and, if the bouts in large part are memorably entertaining, we would push it ahead of Don King’s May 7, 1994 extravaganza.
That’s the view from here. Feel free to dissent.
Postscript: If you plan to watch the entire card ($25.99 on DAZN for U.S. buyers), it would help to stock up on some munchies. The first fight (Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith) is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 a.m. for us viewers in the Pacific Time Zone / 11:45 a.m. ET. If the show adheres tight to its schedule (no guarantee), Beterbiev and Bivol are expected to enter the ring at 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET.
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