DONAIRE BEATS A TOTALLY OUTCLASSED MATHEBULA
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Jul 2012
Last Tuesday at the Los Angeles media workout held at the Fortune Gym in West Hollywood I asked Nonito Donaire Jr., if there is a chance Jeffrey Mathebula of South Africa will continue his winning ways via split decisions.
His reply?
?I do not intend to allow this fight to go the distance and give the judges an opportunity to mess up the results. If I see an opening, I will not waste my time and I will go for a knockout.?
Strong words for the Top Five pound for pound boxer.
Truth be told, that is the best way to go given the fact that there was a potential that Donaire will be fighting two people particularly after IBF announced that a So African Deon Dwarte will be one of the judges.
Consider this.
Donaire has demonstrated his ability to knock out his opponents in more than one occasion.
I was his cutman and I saw him up close demolish the then unbeaten Raul Martinez. At the time Donaire fought the Texan at the Araneta Coliseum in April 2009, Martinez was undefeated in 24 fights.
Following that he fought and defeated Raul Concepcion by unanimous decision. At fight time, Concepcion was many pounds heavier than Donaire thus he saved himself from being knockout.
The UD over Concepcion was followed by successive KO?s and TKO?s over Manuel Vargas (KO-3); Hernan Marquez (TKO-8); Volodymyr Syderenko (KO-4) and the famous 2nd round KO the then much hyped Mexican gladiator, Fernando Montiel before he was back winning by a UD over a reluctant Argentinean, Omar Narvaez and a split decision over Puerto Rico?s Wilfrido Vasquez, Jr., from who he grabbed his present WBO super bantamweight title.
Fighting a much taller Mathebula who spots him by over 3 inches in height and a by the same measurement in reach, Donaire started slowly to measure the capabilities of his opponent.
In the fourth, Donaire threw his classic counter left hook which landed right smack on the chin of Mathebula. The IBF champion, fell backwards like a log but he beat the count and survived to last 12 full rounds.
After that knockdown the fight became a ?catch-me-if-you-can?, kind of a fight. Mathebula used his legs to get away from an ever charging Donaire.
The only time he can move forward and score some hits was when Donaire allowed him to. Other than that, he was totally outclassed.
In the end, the concerns about the South African judge prove unnecessary. But only because Donaire made it that way. He dominated Mathebula.
When the scores were read Dwarte?s score was the worse for Mathebula - 119-108. The other two judges, Jonathan Davis scored it 117-110 and Steve Morrow- 118-109.
After the fight people revived the idea of branding Donaire as the ?next Pacquiao?.
From this writer?s point of view such designation seem unfair- to Donaire as well as to Pacquiao. There is only one Pacquiao and no one can take his place. Donaire himself said that in more than occasion.
Donaire is his own man. And, he earned his place in the sun.
Tonight, he demonstrated that again!
He should never be called the next Pacquiao.
He should be the first Donaire - the four division world boxing champion and currently the WBO and the IBF super bantamweight world champion.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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