WHEN IT RAINS HERE, IT LIKE POURS!
Manila, RPFlorante Condes and 24-yr-old Nonito Donaire now stand as the two lone Filipino world champions with both combatants secured championship victories over their respective foes in opposite sides of the globe.
DONAIRE SHOCKS THE WORLD! (PEDRO & FRANCES TOO) Saturday night, US-based Filipino Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (18-1-0, 11 KOs) followed suit by wresting the World flyweight (112 lbs.) title from overwhelming favorite and previously undefeated Australia-based Armenian Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan (28-1-0, 22 KOs) with an emphatic 5th round KO victory. This was a rather sweet victory for Donaire, as he extracts revenge for his younger brother Glenn, who fell to prey to Darchinyan’s awesome punching power last year.
HAIL THE NEW IBF MINIMUMWEIGHT KING! One night earlier, pint-sized Florante “Little Pacquiao” Condes (22-3-1, 20 KOs) showed ‘tremendous power and fighting heart’ to eke out a split decision victory over erstwhile IBF minimumweight (105) king Muhammad Rachman (62-6-5, 31 KOs) of Indonesia with reported scores of 114-112, 113-117, and 114-112, this according to a report Philboxing.com’s Salven L. Lagumbay, who acted as one of the judges at ringside. Condes decked Rachman twice, once in the 3rd and once in the 10th as well. IS THIS THE START OF A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST? Less than a month from now, four other Filipino hopefuls will try to duplicate, if not surpass, what Condes and Donaire have achieved inside the squared circle.
AMONSOT IN POSITION FAMILIAR TO DONAIRE! Facing tremendous odds, 21-yr-old lightweight Czar Amonsot (18-2-1,10 KOs) of the Philippines now has a bright spot to look at, as he hopes to annex the interim WBO lightweight (135) title from hard-punching Michael “Rocky” Katsidis (22-0-0, 20 KOs) of Australia two weeks from now underneath the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright tussle. Donaire’s victory over Darchinyan should provide Amonsot with a glimmer of hope that talent and skill can neutralize power.
MAYOL BATTLES SOLIS IN AUGUST! Fireworks! Nothing less is expected, as the very talented Rodel “Magnum Force” Mayol (23-1-0, 18 KOs) tries to unseat the IBF light flyweight (108) champ Ulises “Archie” Solis (24-1-2, 18 KOs) of Mexico on the 4th of August. This fight between the 25-yr-old pugs will serve as one of the appetizers for the WBC lightweight championship sacrifice between Erik “The Lamb” Morales and David Diaz.
BAUTISTA & PENALOSA ION SPOTS TO WIN! One of the world’s best prospects, undefeated Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista (23-0-0, 17 KOs), and one of the world’s best technical fighters, Gerry “Fearless” Pe?alosa (51-6-2, 34 KOs), hope to close the one-month bonanza with a big bang as they try to snatch WBO titles from Mexican super bantamweight (122) champ Daniel Ponce De Leon (31-1-0, 28 KOs) and bantamweight (118) king Jhonny Gonzales (34-5-0, 29 KOs), respectively. These bouts will be featured in a blockbuster Golden Boy Promotions fight card dubbed as the “World Cup of Boxing” between Mexico and the Philippines on August 11 in Sacramento, California.
