Triumphant Donaire mobbed in Manila motorcade

Following his rousing victory over Ukrainian Wladimir Sidorenko earlier this month, Filipino boxing champ Nonito Donaire was mobbed in a triumphant motorcade in Manila Friday. Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that Donaire, dubbed The Filipino Flash, was cheered wildly when he met with city officials led by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim at City Hall. Donaire, accompanied by wife Rachel, then boarded a white pickup truck and went around Manila's busy districts, including Binondo, Divisoria, and Moriones and Pritil in Tondo. The report said that during the motorcade, people went out of their offices and houses to greet and wave happily at Donaire. For his part, Donaire gave high-fives to motorists that the motorcade passed.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Donaire arrived in the country last Tuesday, and is expected to spend the holidays in the Philippines before proceeding to Japan to train for his next fight, against Mexico's Fernando Montiel. Last December 5 (Manila time), Donaire earned his 24th straight victory with a fourth-round knockout of Ukrainian bantamweight Wladimiro Sidorenko. The referee stopped the fight with one minute and 48 seconds remaining in the fourth of the scheduled 12-round bantamweight title match at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. With the victory, Donaire is due to fight World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight king Fernando Montiel in Las Vegas on February 19 next year. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV