By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Mon, 14 Jul 2008
Glenn Donaire missed a great opportunity to win by an early knockout in his title fight against IBF light flyweight champion Ulises ?Archie? Solis in Hermosillo, Mexico on Sunday.
That?s the view of respected boxing writer and television reporter James Blears who told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that after a quiet opening round Donaire ?became the aggressor and was pounding Solis all over the place.?
He said Donaire?s decision to move down to light flyweight seemed to benefit him as he ?looked much bigger, had an obvious reach advantage and was noticeably stronger.?
Blears reported that for the next several rounds Donaire was ?connecting well, almost at will and hard.? Blears noted there was an exchange of head-butts several times and this ?seemed to interrupt the flow of punches.?
He said Solis who was being out-gunned switched tactics and ?cleverly counter-punched and picked up points with pinpoint combinations whose impact was neglible but which scored? and by the late rounds Donaire who appeared to have ?taken his foot off the gas was being outboxed.?
Blears said that Donaire who was ?close to stopping Solis in those early rounds gave away the last rounds and this proved decisive.? The boxing writer conceded that Donaire ?narrowly lost the fight? but the two scores of 120-108 and the other of 120-107 ?reflected sheer hometown blindness.?
IBF Chairman Lindsey Tucker identified the three judges as Ruben Garcia of Texas, Joe Garcia of Arizona and Alfredo Polanco of Mexico.
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