For boxing fans in the Philippines, the past several days have been something of an emotional bungee jump. First, the plunge: On December 8, Filipino idol Manny Pacquiao suffered a shocking, one-punch sixth-round knockout defeat at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in the fourth meeting of the arch-rivals. One week later, even as the enormity of Pacquiao?s fall was still sinking in, Nonito Donaire ? the ?other? Filipino superstar ? scored a spectacular three-round knockout over Jorge ?Travieso? Arce. In an eerie coincidence, the time of both kayoes was the same: 2:59 of the round.
The victory over Arce caps an excellent year for Donaire, who retained his lineal junior-featherweight title (Let?s ignore the alphabet groups just this once). He began 2012 with hard-fought decision wins over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Jeffrey Mathebula. Although Donaire decked both opponents, his failure to finish them off raised doubts in some quarters about whether or not he had brought his punching power with him as he climbed weight classes. Some of those doubts were erased when he knocked out Toshiaki Nishioka in nine rounds. The rest should have been put to rest after Nonito?s crushing beatdown of Arce on Saturday.
True, the 33-year-old Arce was moving up from bantamweight, and was a well-worn veteran of 69 bouts going into his meeting with Donaire. But ?Travieso? was hardly a pushover. His last previous loss had come three years ago, when he dropped a 12-round decision to Simphiwe Nongqayi. In his 11 subsequent fights, Arce won nine, with a draw and a no-contest and no defeats. Six of those wins came by knockout, including a revenge KO over Nongqayi and a twelfth-round stoppage of Vazquez Jr., who later went the distance with Donaire. Arce went into the Donaire match as an underdog, but he was expected to give Donaire a hard fight for as long as it lasted.
Instead, Donaire came out with bad intentions, on which he made good with three knockdowns. The last one was a picture-perfect left hook that put Arce out like a light. It was reminiscent of the way Pacquiao flattened Ricky Hatton three years ago.
Pacquiao was indisputably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world back then. Clearly, he no longer holds that distinction. Not after back-to-back losses to Timothy Bradley and Marquez. However, his countryman, Donaire, fits perfectly into the top spot today. And he didn?t ?inherit? that position from Pacquiao. He earned it the old-fashioned way ? by fighting often against high-quality competition.
Marquez deserves pound-for-pound consideration on the strength of his decisive win over Pacquiao. But that was one fight. Andre Ward put on a career performance in stopping Chad Dawson. But that was one fight. Floyd Mayweather soundly outpointed Miguel Cotto. But that was one fight, and Cotto subsequently lost to the unheralded Austin Trout. Donaire has enabled his countrymen and countrywomen to end their bungee jump on a high note. There will never be another Manny Pacquiao. But it?s looking like there will never be another Nonito Donaire, either.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
