DONAIRE IS BACK ON TOP WITH THE WBA WORLD TITLE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 04 Nov 2018
Nonito Donaire (39-5, 25 KOs) wrested the WBA Super world bantamweight title from champion Ryan Burnett (19-1, 9 KOs) via a shocker fifth round stoppage on Saturday night in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight quarterfinal tournament at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
Donaire?s firepower started to gain momentum after the first two rounds, which were quite close. He began to unload his deadly arsenal on Burnett in the third round, and he continuously landed those heavy punches in the fourth.
Burnett was forced to retire from the fight after four rounds of action due to what appeared to be a lower back injury as Burnett missed on a right hand and took a knee immediately, holding his lower back. The round ended and Burnett went back to his corner hurting.
His trainer Adam Booth had the fight stopped even though Burnett wanted to struggle for the fifth round. It was a wise move by Booth not to allow Burnett to come out for the fifth, as he was too injured to continue boxing.
Donaire showed very professional and gentlemanly gestures in the post-fight, repeatedly checking on Burnett's status even after his interview. Burnett was eventually carried on stretcher out of the ring.
Donaire now moves on to the semifinal round of the World Boxing Super Series, where he?ll face WBO titleholder Zolani Tete (28-3, 21 KO).
Donaire has now won three titles in the bantamweight division, the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight titles in 2011 and now the WBA (Super) bantamweight title. He also held the IBF flyweight title from 2007 to 2009, the IBF super bantamweight title in 2012, and the WBO super bantamweight title twice from 2012 to 2016.
In 2012 all award giving entities recognized Donaire as Fighter of the Year, given by Boxing Writers Association of America, ESPN, The Ring, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo! Sports. In 2011, his Round 2 KO against Fernando Montiel was awarded as Knockout of the Year by The Ring, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN.
In 2007, Donaire's Round 5 KO against Vic Darchinyan was recognized as The Ring Upset of the Year and The Ring Knockout of the Year. Also in 2007 he was awarded as World Boxing Hall of Fame, Most Outstanding Boxer of the Year.
Burnett is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is a former unified bantamweight world champion, having held the WBA (Super) bantamweight title between 2017 and 2018, and the IBF bantamweight title from 2017 to 2018. He was also the British bantamweight title holder from 2015 to 2017.
As an amateur boxer, Burnett represented Ireland at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and won the light-flyweight gold medal. He also won the light-flyweight silver medal at the 2010 World Youth Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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