BLOODIED BUT UNBOWED: DONAIRE CAPTURES FIFTH WORLD TITLE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 Jun 2014
Macau - May 31, 2014
Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire, his left eye ripped open by a series of numbing head-butts, refused to quit for the sake of the Filipino fans who kept chanting his name and fulfilled his quest for a fifth world title by winning a unanimous technical decision at the end of the fourth round to capture the WBA featherweight title from rugged Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa before a sell-out crowd at the magnificent Cotai Arena of the sprawling Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino here in Macau on Saturday night.
Despite blood streaming from a nasty gash in his left eye, Donaire remained unbowed and when referee Luis Pabon who did a forgettable job as the third man in the ring asked Donaire whether he wanted to stop the bout at the end of round one because of the bloody cut, Nonito said "No,I don't want to disappoint the fans" and he didn't.
He wobbled Vetyeka with a left hook followed by a right in the third round forcing the South African to hold on to the top strand of the ropes to prevent himself from going down.
Donaire picked up the tempo in the fourth round and after a torrid exchange near the ropes Nonito slipped out in a flash and connected with his patented left hook that had dropped so many champions in the past to send Vetyeka crashing to the canvas midway in the round.
With blood streaming into his eye Donaire gave Vetyeka a much-needed respite as he had the blood wiped clean before he rocked the champion who almost went down one more time except that he was held up by the ropes.
Unable to continue because of the profuse bleeding as a result of the series of head-butts and his left eye almost closed, referee Pabon was informed by the ringside supervisor that an accidental head-butt, one of the four that the referee missed, didn't allow Donaire to continue forcing them to go to the scorecards under the WBA rules.
All three judges, Levi Martinez, Raul Caiz Jr and Francisco Martinez had Donaire the winner but even here there was confusion as ring announcer Lupe Contreras said all three judges had turned in identical scorecards of 49-46 when it should have been 39-36.
After getting 11 stitches to close the cut, Donaire told this reporter and Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN in an exclusive interview in his dressing room that the head-butt at the end of round one "felt like I got punched in the head and I couldn't see anything. But my heart said I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gonna give up."
Donaire was clearly disappointed at the way the fight ended but he told us "it's a good feeling to win and to know that I gave it all that I got and will take the belt home."
He said the head-butts spurred him on and his "natural instinct was to fight," even as he thanked the fans for their support including those who flew in from Manila among whom were Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson.
While thanking the fans for their support and their prayers Donaire said "hopefully we will win more championships" even as he said "for now I want this wound to heal and then go back and resume running because where I am now I want to keep it. I am in shape and my stamina is there. If this heals by September I'll fight again."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told a post-fight press conference that at the end of the first round when Donaire "was dazed and went down, another fighter would have quit and there would have been no decision and they would have chosen to fight another day. But not Nonito. He sucked it up, continued fighting and he truly pulled the fight out by scoring that sensational knockdown. He is not happy winning the title the way he did but I think he should be proud of the performance he put on. He is one of the great fighters of our time."
Donaire praised the Vetyeka camp for being "courteous and respectful. It's disappointing things ended the way it did and hopefully we can do it again. You are a worthy opponent, an amazing fighter."
He stressed "I wanted to do this so bad for the fans because there is no quit in my vocabulary. Hopefully we can do it again here."
Former trainer Robert Garcia who worked the corner alongside Donaire's father and present trainer "Dodong" Donaire Sr said "when Nonito came to the corner, the cut was huge and it was going to get worse as the rounds went by. We were okay with the ref stopping the fight."
Garcia said he was not surprised with the knockdown pointing out that "Nonito has tremendous power, tremendous speed and he showed it here. Vetyeka is a solid featherweight and Nonito came out and dropped him , hurt him really bad in the fourth round. What else does he need to prove to the fans."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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