World Boxing News 2010-2013

Boxing fans from around the world avoided falling off the Fistical Cliff by doing their civic duty.  Fans were invited to vote for their favorite nominees in the 2012 Top Rank Facebook poll (www.facebook.com/trboxing) and boy did they respond.  The categories were Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year and Round of the Year. FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:  NONITO DONAIRE WWW.TOPRANK.COM/VIDEOS/NONITO-DONAIRE   In a breakout year for the Filipino Flash, Donaire (31-1, 30 KOs) extended his 11-year winning streak to 30 bouts by winning all four of his junior featherweight world title fights.  On February 4, Donaire captured the vacant WBO 122-pound title, winning a gritty split-decision battle over former world champion Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. He unified the title on July 7, winning a dominant unanimous decision over defending IBF champion Jeffrey Mathebula. He followed that with another legacy-making victory, a ninth-round stoppage of WBC Diamond Belt super bantamwe...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor ‘Filipino Flash’ opens up on vulnerability at age 10 Pound for pound boxer Nonito Donaire has sensationally revealed that childhood hardships almost led to the multi-weight champion and fighting superstar taking his own life at the age of just ten. The 30 year-old, who is top contender for WBN Fighter of the Year 2012 on the back of four victories from four this year, told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix in a candid interview of his mental troubles growing up. "I felt like I didn't belong. My family didn't have much. We didn't need an extra mouth to feed,” stated Donaire, who admits he tried to hang himself with a makeshift rope from his bunk bed as a child. Luckily, the current WBO super-bantamweight champion thought otherwise and has entertained millions of fans since with his meteoric rise to the top of the boxing world, having defeated some of the best champions around his weight-class for more than five years. Donaire, who...

                             ( )  = Record in 2012                       [ ]  =  Jan 2012 ranking 1. Floyd Mayweather  (1-0)  [1] 2.  Nonito Donaire  (4-0, 2 KO)   [4] 3.  Juan Manuel Marquez  (2-0, 1 KO)  [11]   4. Sergio Martinez  (2-0, 1 KO)  [10]   5. Manny Pacquiao  (0-2)   [2]                                                        6.  Wladimir Klitschko  (3-0, 2 KO)  [5 ] 7.  Andre Ward  (1-0, 1 KO)    [7]                                                    ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor ‘Filipino Flash’ ends Mexican challenge WBO super-bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire proved once again his superiority at the lower weights by blasting out four-weight world title holder Jorge Arce in just three rounds. The 30 year-old was on top for the short time the bout lasted at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas as Arce struggled to get in range to do any significant damage to Donaire, who reigned in accurate power shots after a cagey opener. Arce, 33, was down from a short right hand in the second session, after which he began to engage Donaire with more frequency, which ultimately proved to be the downfall of the Mexican future Hall of Famer. Pound for pound star Donaire got through with a right to the side of the head late in the third round, which took away Arce’s equilibrium and ‘Travieso’ never fully recovered from that point on as he touched the canvas again. Referee Laurence Cole allowed the fight to go on, even thou...

Nonito Donaire v Jorge Arce WBO super-bantamweight title Toyota Center, Texas, USA 12x3                                                                                                      Donaire                            Arce              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                         10                              9         ...

Nonito Donaire v Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (vacant WBO super-bantamweight title ) Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas 12x3                                                   Donaire                    Vazquez                     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                         10                                9              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------             ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Filipino fails to ‘Flash’ at the MSG Theater WBC and WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire inflicted the first defeat on two-weight world champion Omar Narvaez last night in what turned out to be one of the Filipino’s less dazzling performances as he found it tough to penetrate the Argentinian’s tight defence. The 28 year-old, who moves up to 122lbs for his next bout, looked for angles constantly in a vain attempt to stop the rugged super-flyweight champion but eventually took a landslide points win on all three cards. The action heated up in the tenth as Donaire reacted to the boos from the lack of action but the contest reverted straight back in the eleventh to the almost 5,000 capacity crowd’s dismay. The ‘Filipino Flash’ had hoped to wow the crowd in his last fight at the weight after eight months out of the ring but had to settle for a 120-108 score on all the cards as Narvaez seemed intent with taking Donaire the distance. ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor ‘Filipino Flash’ set to move up but can’t make 118lbs Usually when a fighter is moving up in divisions and fighting in his final bout at his current weight, you would expect him to be bang on the limit in readiness to hit the next class. WBC and WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire though, came in at just over 116lbs for his last contest at 118lbs as he takes on former flyweight and super-flyweight world champion Omar Narvaez. Even Narvaez came in a pound about the Filipino and he has been campaigning at 115lbs for almost two years. In his previous two bantawweaight fights Donaire has come in bang on the limit and it was assumed that he would once again be tight at the weight and it was a huge surprise to see the reading come back as 116.25lbs last night. The 28 year-old did spend a lengthy spell out of the ring before announcing his defence against the Argentinian and has now been out for a total of eight months, although his trainer R...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor ‘Money’ still top dog in the boxing world With my own pound for pound rankings showing Filipino’s Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire at number one and number two respectively, it makes me wonder whether Floyd Mayweather really does deserve to be pushed down to number three as a result of his inactivity. The 34 year-old has proven time and time again to be one of the most elusive fighters of all time, slick and hard to hit, with one of the fastest right hands in the fight game ever. With seven fights in the last seven years though since the ‘Pretty Boy’ demolished Arturo Gatti in six painful rounds, should the fact that an obviously super-gifted fighter has outside the ring distractions hamper his rating even if he has never lost or officially retired. For my ‘Money,’ Floyd is without question the best fighter in the world but as he has developed more and more outside factors dragging him away from boxing, Manny Pacquiao has continued to ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Will Pacquaio persuade his fellow countryman to join him in LA After joining the elite rank of world boxers earlier this year, speculation is mounting as to whether the WBN number two ranked pound for pound fighter Nonito Donaire will join up with fellow multi-weight champion Manny Pacquaio at Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Gym. The 28 year-old stunned bantamweight king Fernando Montiel last February with a spectacular second round TKO, picking up the WBC and WBO 118lb titles to become a two-weight world champion and leaping into boxing superstardom in the process. With eight-world world champion Pacquaio, 32, known to be a hero of Donaire’s, it is thought that an offer from the Filipino Congressman to join him in California, could be too good to refuse for the “Filipino Flash” and may lead to him opting to leave Robert Garcia for Roach. Donaire has stated his intention to try and unify the bantamweight division before embarking on a similar mission to th...

Unified Bantamweight Champ faces months out  Morel: misses out  WBO and WBC Bantamweight Champion Fernando Montiel has suffered a fractured leg in a motorcycle accident last weekend which is expected to keep him out of the ring for the next few months. The Mexican was due to fight Eric Morel on November 20th, which has now been scrapped and there is increasing doubts that the scheduled match-up with former flyweight and super-flyweight champion Nonito Donaire on February 19th will now go ahead.  Donaire: on hold  Donaire has expressed his scepticism that the bout with Montiel would have been made in the first place “I had doubts. I heard various reports and figured something would postpone the Montiel fight,” said the 27-year-old Filipino. “We wanted to make sure, that’s why we signed a two-fight contract with Top Rank to ensure us that we are going to fight Montiel.” “I’m happy signing that contract to make sure my fight with Montiel gets made,” added Donaire. M...