What if Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Sergio Martinez, and Juan Manuel Marquez retired? They are all primed and would certainly reach a point where they need to hang up their gloves after cementing their monumental boxing careers. Expectations are getting higher and higher as Nonito ” The Filipino Flash” Donaire continues to climb higher mountains to prove he is the next pound for pound king of the new generation. Donaire won his very first world title (IBF Flyweight Championship) with a one-punch knockout of the then-undefeated Vic Darchinyan where he entered the ring as a 7?1 underdog.
The boxing world was stunned by the victory which was awarded Ring Magazine’s “Knockout of the Year” and “Upset of the Year”. Once again, Donaire shocked the boxing world as he knocked Fernando Montiel with a devastating counter left hook in the second round to take the WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles. This was the same kind of punch that sent Vic Darchinyan to the canvass. A knockout is the sweetest victory for a fighter. So sweet that the boxing fans crave for more.
Nonito continues to climb higher mountains as he moved up in weight and faced Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. to capture the WBO Super Bantamweight title, amazingly he was able to outpoint and knock Vasquez down in the ninth round even with a broken hand which was determined only after the fight. It was reported that Toprank Promotions are now trying to get the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Toshiaki Nishioka to face Donaire in a unification bout this year. Toshioka in return, expressed his interest in fighting Donaire in a most striking way – He said he would not fight if it is not Donaire.
Meanwhile, another higher mountain is waiting on the line for Nonito to climb, and surely there’s a lot of bigger trees he needs to chop as the featherweight division looms ahead. Orlando Salido (who has recently defeated Juan Manuel Lopez in a thrilling rematch proved that he is one of the best in his division) have also expressed his interest in fighting Donaire.
Yuriorkis Gamboa, regarded as the best featherweight who looked more like a “Mini-Tyson”, a strong, fast and slick Cuban fighter who would definitely give Nonito Donaire the toughest fight of his career. Featherweight Division is the next closest higher mountain for Nonito to climb and if he continues to climb up, it is inevitable to face the best in his generation (Adrien Broner, Takashi Uchiyama, Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, and Lamont Peterson). It takes a lot to reach the top of the mountain. The question is “Will Nonito Donaire have what it takes to reach the top?”. We’ll see…
