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Avila Perspective, Chap. 138: Ageless Nonito Donaire, Mayweather and More
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As Nonito Donaire gazed at his fallen victim, the much younger and seemingly stronger bantamweight world champion Nordine Oubaali, it was a stark reminder that youth, strength and hype do not equate to certain victory.
Age has its pitfalls, but skills pay the bills.
While Donaire proved once again that he’s destined for boxing’s Hall of Fame, he also sent out a three-ring alarm that he’s still a dangerous player on the world stage. Do not count him out.
All weekend the older veterans of not just the boxing world, but golf, Indy racing and tennis proved that experience that comes with age is still a major factor in sporting competition.
While Donaire was knocking out Oubaali, 300 miles away Jorge Linares nearly did the same to Devin Haney. And in other sports Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship, Helio Castroneves won the Indy 500 and Rafael Nadal is gunning for a 14th French Open title.
As Napoleon Dynamite once said: “you got skills.”
For decades now Donaire (pictured on the left) has proven over and over again that he’s more than a just a knockout artist. At the advanced boxing age of 38 the fighter known as “Filipino Flash” drew Oubaali into his line of fire and dropped him like a worn-out sparring partner.
It’s been quite a journey.
Hollywood Park
Just by luck I happened to see Nonito Donaire’s professional debut 20 years ago. It was not too far from the Dignity Health Sports Park that he laced up professionally for the first time at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California.
I was there to see Fernando “Bobby Boy” Velardez, a super tough kid from San Bernardino who would later fight for a world title against Erik Morales. On that same card a young female fighter Karen Martin would win by vicious knockout. Donaire would also win by quick knockout over a kid named Jose Lazaro.
Inexplicably Donaire would lose his next fight in Northern California by decision in a five-round bout to Rosendo Sanchez. After that he would not lose another fight for 12 years.
I saw Donaire fight one more time at Hollywood Park Casino and then it took another three years before he fought in Southern California at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello. A tough Mexican kid named Ricardo Barrera lasted four rounds until Donaire broke him down.
It was easy to see Donaire was simply too fast, too agile and could hit a ton with that left hook and right cross. Few could match his athleticism enough to test his skills until he met another Southern California hopeful at the Pechanga Casino in Temecula in January 2006.
Kahren Harutyunyan was a short, sturdy and ultra-intelligent fighter from Glendale, California who never looked for the easy fights. With Donaire he knew what to expect but when the Filipino Flash dropped him in the second round, it did not look like it would last much longer.
It did.
Harutyunyan and Donaire would trade blows for 10 entire rounds and after the torrid super flyweight NABF title fight, Donaire won by split decision.
I’ll never forget what Harutyunyan said after the fight: “I wish I had longer arms.” He would fight once more then graduate from UCLA and become a businessman. He also would later promote dozens of boxing cards in Southern California.
Donaire probably ended a lot of boxing careers. But that night he proved he was more than just super athletic, he also showcased boxing skills that allowed him to defeat tough competitors with chins of steel. Those skills were extremely necessary one year later when he clashed with another Armenian fighter named Vic “The Destroyer” Darchinyan.
IBF world champion Darchinyan was a southpaw wrecking machine who had defeated Nonito’s brother Glenn Donaire a year earlier and nearly killed Jose Victor Burgos with a 12-round battering. Burgos was sent to the hospital with a brain bleed but recovered and never fought again.
Donaire met Darchinyan in Connecticut and quickly displayed his ability to dart in and out with jabs and counters before receiving fire. And when Darchinyan charged in during the fifth round and he ran into a Donaire left hook and it was over.
It was the beginning of Donaire’s reign and recognition as one of prizefighting’s most exciting fighters. Many would include Donaire on their pound-for-pound top-10 lists.
“Three of my biggest fights were Darchinyan, Fernando Montiel and Naoya Inoue,” says Donaire who thinks a rematch with Inoue should be in order.
After 20 years as a prizefighter Donaire has returned to the forefront as the WBC bantamweight world titlist immediately after losing a razor close decision to Inoue in Japan. It proves that despite two decades fighting many of the best in the world, he maintains two vital and necessary elements to remain an elite prizefighter: skills and power.
“I’m still doing it and I’m healthy. I’m not going out there partying,” said Donaire. “I have an amazing wonderful wife. She taught me to be healthy.”
Donaire expects the championship journey to continue.
“I have a great talent, great reflexes and a great mind to get better,” said Donaire who lives and trains in Las Vegas. “That’s why I’m still excited after 20 years.”
Mayweather and Others on PPV
Floyd Mayweather returns to fight another exhibition with another non-boxer when he meets Logan Paul on Sunday June 6, at 5 p.m. PT from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Showtime pay-per-view will televise the entire boxing card.
Paul may not be a fighter but he has tremendous power in his punches. Mayweather, of course, is harder to hit than a gnat in a hurricane.
Former super welterweight titlist Jarrett Hurd (24-1) meets Luis Arias (18-2-1) in a middleweight scrap set for 10 rounds. Also, Badou Jack (23-3-3) fights undefeated Derwin Colina (15-0), a late replacement for Jean Pascal who failed a PED test.
Four Kings on Showtime
Not to belittle the documentary “The Four Kings” that will be debuting on Sunday, June 6 at 8 p.m. PT on Showtime, but most fans fail to realize that they did not fight each other all within a short period. It took nearly a decade for them to face each other.
It started with Sugar Ray Leonard meeting Robert Duran for the welterweight world championship in Montreal, Canada. They called it the “Brawl in Montreal” and it lived up to expectations. That took place in 1980. Then followed Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns and so forth until Leonard clashed with Marvin Hagler in 1987.
In between those seven years there was a lot of back and forth conversations, retirements and comebacks. But yes, they all fought each other and it was magical.
Thompson Boxing Promotions
On Sunday June 6, Michael Dutchover (14-1) meets Ivan Benitez (14-4-1) in an eight- round lightweight match at Omega Products International in Corona, California. Also, undefeated super welterweight Richard Brewart (9-0) and Donte Stubbs (6-1) tangle in the semi-main event. Both come from the Inland Empire area and are familiar with each other.
The Thompson Boxing Promotion card will be shown on its web site at 2:30 p.m. PT. Go to this link: www.Thompsonboxing.com
Fights to Watch
Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. Daniel Dubois (15-1) vs. Bogdan Dinu (20-2) WBA interim heavyweight title in Telford, England.
Sun. WWW.Thompsonboxing.com 2:30 p.m. PT Michael Dutchover (14-1) vs Ivan Benitez (14-4-1).
Sun. Showtime ppv 5:30 p.m. PT Jarrett Hurd (24-1) vs Luis Arias (18-2-1); Badou Jack (23-3-3) vs Derwin Colina (15-0); Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul exhibition.
Photo credit: Esther Lin / Showtime
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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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