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Underdog Boxing: Donaire ready to join Pacman among world's best fighters


2007. Left hook to the jaw sends Vic Darchinyan (highest-ranked flyweight at the time) crashing to the canvas. 2011. Left hook to the temple knocks down Fernando Montiel (highest-ranked bantamweight at that point). 2007. Drachinyan tried to get up, smashed his nose to the canvas in the process, didn’t make it before the count of 10. 2011. Montiel’s limbs shook violently, he willed himself to get up, ate two more punches before the referee halted the bout. 2007. Appended the IBO and IBF flyweight titles. 2011. Grabbed the WBC and WBO bantamweight titles. 2007. Trainer and father Nonito Donaire, Sr. ran to the ring to hug his son the fighter. 2011. Trainers Robert Garcia and Jonathan Peñalosa stormed the ring to celebrate. So different yet intrinsically the same. With another jolting left hook, Nonito “The Filipino Flash" Donaire has cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters in boxing today. It is already a minor tragedy that the two biggest wins of Donaire’s career came four years apart. After beating Darchinyan, his career should have sky-rocketed. But the big names in his division avoided him like the plague. Who can blame them? No one wants to face a lanky heavy-handed switch-hitter who has tremendous hand and foot speed. Because no one of worth wanted to face him, Donaire was stuck. He knew he was good enough to be one of the finest fighters in the sport, but he never had the opportunity to prove it. Thankfully, Montiel gave him the opportunity. And boy, did Donaire take advantage of it. The first round was all about the two fighters measuring each other up. The most distinguishable difference was Donaire’s length. In the second round, Montiel landed a right on the side of Donaire’s head, but the Filipino Flash quickly countered with a left hook that dropped Montiel. Montiel displayed the heart of a Mexican champion as he bravely tried to stand up. He was in no condition to continue but the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt. He ate two more punches before the referee stepped in to save him from further punishment. Watching Donaire, you could see that all the frustration that built up in the last four years melted away. Donaire knew that this was the one fight that he needed to win and he won it big. The world is now in the palm of Donaire’s hand. Because of this win, he has announced his arrival as the top dog in the bantamweight division. He has already sent notice to every fighter within shouting distance that he is ready to move up in weight and battle anyone. Big-time fights against the likes of Joseph Agbeko, Abmer Mares, Anselmo Moreno, Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr., Chris John, Yuri Gamboa, and a mouth-watering showdown with Juanma Lopez are all in the horizon for Donaire. If he continues dominating great opponents like Montiel, there’s a huge possibility that there will be two Filipinos in the Top 3 of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Philippine boxing’s golden era. -- KY/OMG, GMA News

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