With seven fights to view on Saturday night, personally I was as happy as a kid on the first day of Hanukkah, with Santa Claus still to come. The Showtime card received a few raspberries in the press, and I think I understand some of the reasons for this, but I wouldn?t throw the baby out with the bath water. Certainly we can all agree that the tripleheader contained some moments of excitement along with one totally useless exercise.
To begin, ?The Filipino Flash,? Nonito Donaire, looked like a champion in putting away a tough challenger, Luis ?Titi? Maldonado, at 1:16 of the eighth round by TKO to defend his IBF/IBO flyweight belts.
Donaire has fast hands and good power and his surprising victory over Vic Darchinyan was no fluke. By round two Maldonado was bleeding heavily on his left eye over the brow and from the corner of his right eye. The blood was pouring by round three and Maldonado?s face virtually left a shroud on his corner men?s towels between rounds.
As the rounds went by you could see that all Maldonado had was heart and guts to throw at the formidable Donaire. ?Titi? entered the ring at 37-1-1 (28), a former title challenger who once drew with Cristian Mijares yet was never in the fight with Nonito, and was dropped near the end of the seventh from a Donaire left hand.
In the eighth round Donaire landed a barrage on one side of the ring and then followed Luis to the opposite side and decked him with two big left hooks before referee Charlie Dwyer stopped it.
Donaire has a smile that would light up a room, and at age 25 has the potential to be The Next Great Filipino Athlete.
After the fight he jokingly expressed disappointment that he did not stop his opponent in seven because Darchinyan also TKO?d Maldonado in eight. In the post fight interview he told Showtime?s Jim Gray that his left hand was sore but okay, and his legs were ?sluggish,? which is why he had to rely on his power and upper body movement. He went on to ramble that he was having problems with his uppercut, his counters, and Maldonado?s awkwardness. You would have thought he was the loser.
Donaire, now 19-1 (12), said that he wants to unify the title, something that no other Filipino has ever achieved.
Nonito also said that his promoter, Gary Shaw, ?Got me this fight and made me who I am today.?
Yet, this week a couple of websites published an interview with Donaire with a laundry list of complaints directed at Shaw. Shaw has responded on a couple of sites and that is not the concern today. Shaw is a big boy, a real big boy, and can take care of himself.
But you read the litany of gripes thrown out by Donaire and you begin to wonder if having a parade in your honor and meeting the president of your country entitles you to a swelled head. Why would you go to a website with your problems when you have the man himself in front of you on Saturday night?
Donaire?s weight went up to 140 when he was celebrating his victory over Darchinyan, a concern in itself for a young boxer. He was given five rooms at the hotel as per his contract, but had a fit when he found out that one was for his manager, Cameron Dunkin, who does a good job for his clients. To satisfy Nonito, Dunkin?s room was given to Donaire, and his manager didn?t come to the fight.
Nonito was even upset when it was suggested that he wasn?t quite at the level of Manny Pacquiao as yet. I mean, at this point he?s had like one major fight!
This is all just too childish for comment. I?ll say this, however –Nonito was correct in saying that Shaw got him his fight with Darchinyan, another Shaw fighter. And the fact of the matter is that if Donaire doesn?t grow up and stay in shape, Darchinyan might come around again to ask for a refund on his belt.
We?ll have to stay tuned on this one.
Resurging 36 year old Vernon Forrest, 40-2 (29), floored Michele Piccirillo three times en route to a crushing 11th round TKO in the first defense of his WBC junior middleweight title. The 37 year old Piccirillo, 48-4 (30), is a former IBF welterweight belt holder who had no answers for Forrest?s snapping jabs and sharp rights, and didn?t have the firepower for a slugfest.
Forrest stalked Piccirillo beginning in round one, landing some good hooks and a bull?s-eye straight right. He?s now 5-0 since returning from a two year absence from arm surgeries and looked as good as ever in mugging Piccirillo, who fought backing up as if he was caught in a mud bank. Forrest?s right hands seemingly landed at will and he also showed good defense, slipping many of Piccirillo?s punches.
Forrest remained clearly in control, flooring Piccirillo in the sixth with a right that Michele tried unsuccessfully to sell to referee Arthur Mercante as a shot to the back of the head.
A lead overhand right dropped Piccirillo again in round nine. Then, in the 11th round, Forrest landed a left uppercut and a hard right and Piccirillo went down, twisting his ankle severely on his fall and rendering him unable to continue at 2:21.
It was the first time in Piccirillo?s career that he had been stopped.
After the fight, interviewer Jim Gray asked Vernon about a third fight with arch-rival Ricardo Mayorga, the only man to ever defeat him in his professional career and Forrest answered, ?Absolutely.?
He also indicated a taste for a big money fight in the form of the May weather -Hatton winner, Oscar De La Hoya, or Miguel Cotto, but the odds are strong for a Forrest-Mayorga III coming soon to a main event near you.
In all honesty, that just about ended the entertainment portion of the program. The main event was Antonio ?The Magic Man? Tarver against Danny ?The Bronx Bomber? Santiago for the IBO light heavyweight title. Tarver might as well have been facing Derek Jeter because Santiago has limited skills on his best day.
It started badly for me as I kept hearing the Showtime announcers refer to Tarver as a future Hall of Famer. He?s now 26-4 (19), and I don?t care if he won two of three from a fading Roy Jones Jr. and split with Glen Johnson, I just don?t see the credentials for Canastota. Hall of Fame, my patootie.
The crowd began booing by round two. Tarver looked tentative and slow. Santiago, 29-4-1 (19), didn?t do much of anything, except look very small with a five inch height disadvantage. In the fourth, Santiago went down twice and referee Steve Smoger called it at 2:53 of the round.
Even after the knockout, you could hear the crickets. Tarver did what he was supposed to do. It?s not his fault that Santiago hit the canvas from virtually the first two semi-solid left hands from Tarver and then seemingly returned to the floor as soon as he legitimately could afterward. But the fans want to see the best fight the best. And if Santiago is the best at something, it?s unrelated to boxing.
Tarver has turned into one sensitive guy. Before the fight he told Gray that, ?There?s going to be critics and I hear them loud and clear?They never hurt me but they have helped me?I use it all as positive motivation?As long as there are critics, I?ll have something to work for.?
Speaking personally, when Tarver faces a Chad Dawson, win or lose, I?ll begin to have more respect for him.
For now, Tarver is saying that he?d like to fight super middleweight Jeff Lacy next. But there are two potential obstacles there. First and foremost, I?m not sure that Lacy can get by Peter Manfredo Jr. on Saturday at this point. Secondly, Lacy was quoted by the St. Petersburg Times that he would not fight Tarver as long as he was promoted by Shaw, who has a two-fight deal with Tarver.
Lacy, now with Golden Boy Promotions, was formerly promoted by Shaw until an acrimonious breakup last year, and is not under contract for that April 12 date, so we?re looking at a possible problem there.
Dawson, tentatively, is to fight Glen Johnson on that same card, assuming he beats his mandatory challenger Adrian Diaconu by the end of January.
So Tarver might have to break down and fight a light heavyweight contender. You can?t expect Showtime to subsidize fights with the likes of Santiago for what Tarver is earning for him to barely break a sweat.
