?DODONG? DONAIRE SAYS NONITO COULD HAVE BEEN KNOCKED OUT IF HE WASN?T IN SHAPE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Dec 2015
The father/trainer of former five division world champion and newly crowned WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire said he was worried that when Nonito was pinned against the ropes by the bull-strong Cesar Juarez and ?the guy might hit him with a good punch. He threw a lot of punches (in rounds 8 and 9) and he (Nonito) might go down.?
?Dodong? Donaire recalled that he had ?seen a lot of fights when a fighter is winning but got knocked out by staying on the ropes.?
The father/trainer emphasized ?it was a good thing that Nonito was really in shape. If not he could have been knocked out? indicating that in the next training camp ?we have to do more? pointing out that during sparring with bigger fighters in Fidel Navarette and Fred Bowen. ?Nonito was able to move and didn?t get caught on the ropes and was able to evade those kind of punches? thrown by Juarez.
He said ?with the accident (when referee Ramon Pena accidentally tripped Donaire in the sixth round) you don?t know what?s going to happen.?
?Dodong? said ?when he was tripped Nonito started to slow down but I give the guy Juarez credit. He is really tough and took all the punches of Nonito? with ?The Filipinio Flash? unable to get leverage to punch as Juarez pushed him against the ropes, negating their game-plan which was not to stay on the ropes during the offensive of Juarez.
He revealed that Nonito was ?looking for an opening while on the ropes because his foot was bothering him? and he wanted to take him out with one big punch.
?Dodong? Donaire remarked that Nonito had ?changed a lot from his previous fights? and trained harder than ever before and his counter-punching in the early rounds and the two knockdowns he scored in round four made him think that Juarez ?would give up but he was like a truck. I thought it wouldn?t last six rounds? which was the same assessment of Atty. Ed Tolentino and this commentator who did the coverage for ABS-CBN which will be telecast at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday but the amazing resilience of Juarez who has never been knocked out before helped him survive and turn the tide in the middle round after Donaire was hampered by the injury which saw him hobbling to his corner at the end of round six.
?Dodong? disclosed that Nonito had seven stitches on the deep cut on his right eye and said he didn?t notice what happened because after Nonito ?turned around from the corner I saw blood dripping from the cut which Nonito said was caused by a head-butt? even as referee Pena cautioned the fighters to ?watch your heads.?
Nonito, wife Rachel and the family will rest and spend some time on the beach before leaving for Manila where Donaire is expected to receive a hero?s welcome.
He said Donaire is likely to stay in the Philippines until February and plans to return to the gym after some two weeks while he himself would return to his own gym in Oakland, California because one of his fighters, Joebert Alvarez will face McWilliams Arroyo in a ten round bout for a regional belt in Philadelphia on December 29.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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