DONAIRE SAYS HE ROOTED FOR DARCHINYAN TO WIN BECAUSE HE WANTS HIM
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Dec 2009
WBA super flyweight interim champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire revealed that he was rooting for Vic Darchinyan because he wanted the WBC/WBA super flyweight champion to win against Mexican Tomas Rojas so he could “get his confidence back so we could make a fight happen.”
Darchinyan scored a one-punch knockout of Rojas at the Rancho Mirage in California when he caught the lanky Rojas who was out-boxing him but crouched and got caught by a left that put the Mexican down and out for the full count.
As always, Darchinyan who improved to 33-2-1 with 27 knockouts called out Donaire who knocked him out with a perfectly timed punch to win the IBF/IBO flyweight titles on July 7, 2007 and earned the award for the “Knockout of the Year.”
Donaire told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports shortly after the fight ended “I’ve been waiting for that fight. I’m here and I hope he’s got enough confidence for him to step up into the ring with me again.”
Donaire added, “he always calls me out. He’s always doing that. There’s nothing new about Darchinyan. That’s how he is and that’s how he’ll always be. If they can make the fight happen that’s fine. I’m well ready for this fight and I’m actually excited to see that the fight will happen.”
Donaire said Rojas was “doing well using the jab and the right straight but he just got careless. That was actually a body punch that landed in the face as Rojas ducked down and walked into the punch. You know how lucky that was.”
“The Filipino Flash” who has a record of 22-1 with 14 knockouts faces Gerson Guerrero (34-8, 26 KO’s) in Top Rank’s “Pinoy Power III” fight card which he headlines at the Las Vegas Hilton on February 13 which will be telecast by the giant Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN across the nation and on The Filipino Channel, globally.
File photo shows Donaire (R) sending Darchinyan to the canvas during their July, 2007 fight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Crawford to defy odds?
By Joaquin Henson, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Sun, 14 Sep 2025