DONAIRE SAVES THE DAY ON HEARTBREAK SUNDAY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 Jul 2010
Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire saved the day on what was a heartbreak Sunday for the Philippines when Bernabe Concepcion lost by a 2nd round TKO to WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel ?Juanma? Lopez in an absolute war while it lasted and Eden Sonsona lost by a 9th round knockout to bull-strong Jonathan Oquendo in the opening bout of a blockbuster fight card telecast by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN on its pre-eminent Channel 2.
Donaire who had a few problems making the 115 pound limit and stressed it was definitely his last fight as a super flyweight, retained his WBA Interim title with a classic display of boxing behind a complete repertoire of skills against the hard-hitting Hernan ?Tyson ? Marquez of Mexico.
Surprising Marquez by fighting off a southpaw stance for the first four rounds, Donaire used a stinging right straight and cracking hooks and uppercuts to keep Marquez, who was three inches shorter, at bay, although the Mexican did get in a couple of solid shots to the body.
Donaire switched to an orthodox stance in round five and dropped Marquez before dropping him once again in the 8th round with a vicious left uppercut at the end of a three punch salvo that began with a cracking right hook.
Referee Roberto Ramirez seeing the lopsided nature of the fight decided to call a halt at 2:59 of the 8th round when Marquez? corner had apparently seen enough and motioned the referee to stop it.
The heartbreaker was clearly Sonsona?s initial adventure in the super bantamweight division with a title crack at WBO champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr on the line for the winner.
Referee Jose Rivera made sure it wouldn?t be Sonsona, the quick-handed, hard-hitting southpaw who would get the title shot as he allowed Oquendo the liberty of four decidedly low blows that took the sting out of the 21 year old Filipino and in stark contrast deducted a point from Sonsona for an accidental clash of heads.
After, the bigger and stronger-looking Oquendo took the opening round Sonsona settled down and came back strong in the third, fourth and fifth rounds nailing Oquendo with excellent shots to the head and body and varying his left straight with a deadly left hook that clearly hurt the Puerto Rican who appeared ready to be taken out before the bell intervened.
Oquendo?s tactics whenever he was hurt appeared to be to retaliate with a low blow or to hold and with Sonsona failing to utilize the full five minutes given him to recover, appeared to fade as Oquendo concentrated on working the body.
Both fighters turned it into a slugfest in round seven which appeared to swing one way, then the other and when there was an accidental clash of heads in round eight referee Rivera deducted a point without hesitation from Sonsona while ignoring the repeated low blows by Oquendo.
TV replays clearly showed that Sonsona dropped Oquendo in round eight but the referee ruled it a slip. After two low blows in the same round eight, Oquendo caught Sonsona with a big right hand towards the end of the round that sent Sonsona to the canvas.
Sensing that Sonsona was in trouble Oquendo went after the Filipino who gamely tried to slug it out but was again picked off with a short right hand, went down and failed to beat the count at 1:05 of the 9th round.
Concepcion was a huge underdog against the undefeated Lopez and in a waterfront brawl the punching power of Lopez and the inexperience of Concepcion made all the difference. It was a firefight while it lasted.
In the opening round Lopez picked off Concepcion with his patented left hook as Concepcion showed no lateral or head movement at all, contrary to the advice given him by pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. Instead the Filipino who was shorter by a few inches appeared hell-bent on taking the champion out with one big punch and although he dropped Lopez in the dying seconds of the first round when the champion was clearly groggy and staggered to his corner the bell prevented Concepcion from trying to finish him off.
After Lopez wobbled Concepcion with a left hook which sent the Filipino reeling against the ropes, the challenger connected with a right but left himself wide open and was dropped with a clubbing right hand. Lopez darted in to try and end it with the hometown fans who included the all-time great Felix ?Tito? Trinidad on their feet , but was himself shocked by a Concepcion left hook that sent him down. However, Lopez survived as the bell sounded.
Lopez had seen enough and realized he couldn?t afford to take chances which is what Concepcion did and as he lunged forward Lopez deposited him on the canvas with a right straight. Concepcion went down once more but referee Luis Pabon ruled it a slip before the champion connected with a solid right that hurt the challenger before he dropped the game Concepcion with another big right hand and a vicious left hook. Although the referee began to count and Concepcion attempted to get up Pabon waved it off at 2:37 seconds of the second round.
Top photo: Nonito Donaire, Jr. (R) hits Hernan Marquez with a punch that sends the Mexican to the canvas in the 8th round.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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