WASHINGTON, D.C.: Take it from Mexican boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez, Filipino-American boxing superstar Nonito Donaire Jr. is the next king of the ring.
The legendary Chavez, who is considered the greatest Mexican boxer ever, said it?s not easy picking the next best fighter in the world pound-for-pound, but he had no reservations choosing Donaire, an immigrant from Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao?s hometown of General Santos City.
?It?s hard to pick one, but I definitely think Nonito Donaire has demonstrated that he is one of the best in the world,? said Chavez, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.
Chavez, 50, and who remains active in the sport as a boxing analyst, thinks the 30-year-old Donaire has the rare combination of power, speed, and ring smarts to eventually become world No. 1 when the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao retire from boxing in a few years.
?I think Donaire will be the one to reign over the sport,? Chavez told Spanish sports channel ESPN Deportes. Donaire, the 2012 ?Fighter of the Year,? is now ranked in the Top 5 of most pound-for-for listing.
A world champion in four different weight classes, Donaire had a banner year last year, fighting four times against top opponents and still getting better after each of those big fights.
On February 4, Donaire moved up in weight to win the vacant World Boxing Organization super bantamweight title, knocking down former 122-pound champ Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in round 9 and dominating the naturally bigger Puerto Rican star.
On July 7, Donaire fought the taller Jeffrey Mathebula, dropping the South African with a counter left hook in round 4 in another dominant win to add the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight belt in a unification bout.
Three months later, he relinquished one of the belts, took on highly-respected former World Boxing Council champion Toshiaki Nishioka and stopped the Japanese in round 9 after scoring knockdowns in the sixth and ninth rounds.
And on December 15, Donaire took on four-division world champion Jorge Arce despite a bad left hand, decked Arce in the second round and again in the third before unleashing a furious flurry to knock the rugged Mexican out seconds before the round ended.
Clearly, the legendary Chavez sees Donaire taking the mantle of Pacquiao, for three years the No. 1 best fighter in the world pound-for-pound until he was knocked out cold by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez on December 6.
It?s a flattering but credible assessment of Donaire?s protentials from one of the greatest fighters in the world. To this day Chavez holds the longest unbeaten streak of 89 fights before finally losing to American challenger Frankie Randall in on Jan. 29, 1994 by split decision to yield his world light welterweight title.
But Chavez immediately bounced back from that loss and convincingly took his title back, winning by eighth round technical decision when the fight was stopped due to cuts. The fight went to the scorecards which the Mexican legend handily won because he was winning on the three judges? scores.
For the record, the longest winning streak in boxing belongs to all-time No. 1 Sugar Ray Robinson, who went undefeated in 91 straight fights in a span of eight years after his first loss to his arch-nemesis Jake ?The Raging Bull? LaMotta.
According to the International Boxing Hall of Fame website, Robinson had won 40 straight professional fights before losing to LaMotta, another Hall of Famer whose life story was made into a movie in the 1981 in the Academy Award-winning film ?Raging Bull,? with Robert DeNiro in the lead role.
