Scoring four knockdowns, two of them in the first round, Nonito Donaire Jr. overpowered Raul Martinez en route to a fourth-round TKO in the Philippines on Sunday.
Donaire (21-1, 14 knockouts) threw huge bombs from outside, while Martinez could not get near him. The IBF flyweight champion seemed less concerned with aesthetics than usual, hellbent instead on destroying the challenger.
?I felt mean,? Donaire said in a post-fight interview on Top Rank?s pay-per-view telecast, ?because I had to look good. Viloria did his job.? He was referring to fellow Filipino-American Brian Viloria?s rousing 11-round TKO victory over IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis in the sub main event at the Araneta Coliseum. Viloria (25-2, 15 knockouts), repeatedly demonstrated superior power against the skilled Mexican.
But nothing like Donaire?s dominance. Set up by a right feint, a cobra-like left hook put ?Cobrito? on the canvas about a minute in after Donaire had missed several power punches wildly but was establishing his left jab. After the knockdown, the same jab, jab, jab, strike pattern persisted until a combination punctuated by a lunging overhand right put Martinez down again.
Donaire staggered Martinez, a substitute teacher from San Antonio, with a huge right early in the second round and then went southpaw momentarily as if he might be dealing with a hand injury for the third fight in a row. He seemed desperate then to get Martinez out of there. Returning to the orthodox stance, he then put Martinez down for the third time in the fight with a left hook.
?He sits on his punches, and I knew he was gonna be there,? Donaire said of his power display. ?I got him with some good counterpunches with my right, and that set him up for my left.?
With Martinez still around and landing a punch here and there, Donaire boxed more in the third round, which surprisingly made him a bit more vulnerable defensively, but he was dominating any way he chose. He ended it with a left uppercut in the fourth.
Donaire, who never had fought such a big-time bout in his native country, certainly leaves the flyweight division with a bang that makes it appear he can carry his power up to bantamweight. ?I will definitely go up to 118 or 115,? he said, having had more trouble reaching 112 than he did beating Martinez (24-1). ?Like the last fights, I felt it in my legs. I definitely have to move up.?
His ferocity probably opens the door for good fights he might not have gotten had he fought in an impregnable style that other boxers don?t want to face and fans don?t want to see. He gave both groups what they want.
