WHEN world flyweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire scored what amounted to a classic demolition of a tough and resilient title contender in Mexico?s Luis Maldonado at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut, he proved that he is the real deal and not a one-punch wonder, or a mere flash in the pan.
There were those who felt?rightly?but now proven wrongly?that Donaire caught cocky undefeated Australian Vic Darchinyan with a lucky punch, that effectively shut his mouth and cost him his two world titles.
But those of us, who followed the action intently on pay-per-view in our homes or caught the action on the big screen, during the Payback fight card at the Araneta Coliseum courtesy of Solar Sports, which also telecast the fight on GMA-7, realized that indeed, this young man from General Santos City had what amounted to a similar boxing bloodline as Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and years before him, Rolando Navarette.
Donaire, who trained in the famed ALA Gym in Cebu and got the best sparring available, clearly benefited from that stint, as he dominated the Mexican, who had been stopped only once in his career by former champion Darchinyan.
The Filipino dominated the first three rounds in a superb display that established his credentials as an emerging star. He controled the action almost totally against the hapless Maldonado, opened up a cut above the right eye with cracking combinations that turned the Mexican?s face into a bloody mess.
Maldonado did connect with a solid right hook in the fourth round that woke up the champion, but the Filipino came back and nailed him with a left hook that staggered the challenger. But Donaire got a little cute and inexplicably switched to a southpaw stance, which didn?t do him any good.
But Donaire quickly regained the initiative as he went after Maldonado, cracking him with vicious combinations and waiting for an opening to unload his devastating left hook.
Late in Round 6, he pinned the challenger against the ropes and picked him off with clean shots, including a fancy left-right combination as he let his hands go. Donaire cracked Maldonado with a big right on the nose that staggered the Mexican, who fought back like a wounded tiger in the most exciting round of the fight. When Donaire caught Maldonado with double left hooks, TV commentator Al Bernstein gushed over the ?very skilled, well-polished fighter,? who continued to give the challenger a boxing clinic.
In the dying seconds of Round 7, Donaire caught Maldonado with a stinging right uppercut, that froze the challenger in his tracks and then clubbed him to the canvas with a vicious left hook as the Mexican staggered backwards, only to be saved by the bell.
After the ringside physician checked out Maldonado and let the fight continue, Donaire decided to go after the challenger and end his misery by catching him with a barrage of punches. But the referee didn?t intervene. After backing off for a few seconds ?The Filipino Flash? returned to the fray and threw a flurry of unanswered punches that forced referee Charlie Dwyer, who very correctly called a halt at 1:16 of the eighth round.
There was joy as his family, friends and fans celebrated while here at home, Filipinos began to look at Donaire with greater respect and as a possible heir to Pacquiao. As one astute observer at ringside mentioned, Pacquiao has company in the hearts and minds of the Filipino nation.
Regrettably, behind the celebration and the fa?ade of joy, trouble was apparently brewing. And it spilled onto the airwaves earlier in the week on the dzSR Sports Radio program ?Sports Chat? hosted by young journalist, boxing writer and TV commentator Dennis Principe who invited us to join him in a three-way phone conversation with Donaire.
There had been a slight hint of trouble when Donaire and his father/trainer Nonito Donaire Sr. had to delay their trip to the Philippines to begin training for the title defense. Apparently, they didn?t get the funds needed to buy their airline tickets and for daily expenses. Donaire was to lament on the radio show??they never gave me money for my expenses and I had to borrow some money to help me go to the Philippines in order for me to lose that weight? since he had ballooned to around 136-140 pounds after the Darchinyan fight. To be continued
