Donaire should hang up his gloves, now
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
WE saw on tv how our country mate World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire suffered a humiliating defeat against Naoya Inoue, his counterpart in the bantamweight division (118-pound) the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titleholder, via second round stoppage held last June 7 before a hometown crowd in Saitama, Japan.
Unlike their first encounter in 2019 that Inoue won via a close unanimous decision, this time the 29-year-old unbeaten Japanese pug (23-0 with 20 knockouts) mercilessly floored Donaire in the closing seconds of the initial round with a swift solid short right hand and then finished the flashy Talibon, Bohol-born Filipino in the second round with a flurry of solid combination punches that forced the referee Michael Griffin to signal the end of the unification rematch, 1:24 ticks left.
Inoue’s scintillating efforts enabled him to seize Donaire’s WBC belt. Latest reports say Inoue nicknamed “The Monster” because of his brutal punching power, now carries three world bantamweight belts on his hip and shoulder and is looking forward to fight World Boxing Organization (WBO) titlist Paul Butler of England for his last unification bout before climbing the 126 pounds featherweight division. World boxing fans hope it will push through before calling Inoue the greatest bantamweight king of all time if he’s lucky again to beat the elusive Butler.
Records show Donaire suffered his first embarrassing knockout defeat against Nicholas Walters of Jamaica on October 18, 2014 for the WBA featherweight title clash. After that setback, he moved back to bantamweight which he used to rule for many years and went on to win the WBC bantamweight tiara via 4th round knockout against Nordine Oubaali of France. Donaire successfully defended his crown against compatriot Raymart Gaballo via 4th round knockout before losing anew to Inoue for the second time.
To our beloved four-division champion Donaire (42 wins, 7 losses), my unsolicited advice to him is to hang up his gloves, now. Obviously, his age (39) already caught up with him and there’s nothing more for him to prove. He already gave our country multiple accolades next to world boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. I doff my hat to him, too. Admittedly, he’s no longer the “flash” Donaire that we used to know during his younger days. But that’s for him to decide.
* * * *
Despite the torrential rains the past days, there was no stopping the country’s cycling races mostly being conducted in the morning. In fact, our national cycling body called PhilCycling is set to restore the national road race cycling championships slated on June 21 to 24 in Tagaytay City, according to Philippine Olympic Committee president and PhilCyling chief Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
The same will be done here in Pangasinan on June 19 in San Fabian town. Dubbed as “Excellent Noodles San Fabian Cycling Challenge,” the bikefest starts and ends at barangay Lipit-Inmalog ‘Bikers’ Den’ and will be run in three categories, master (35 to 49 years old), grandmaster (50 and-above years old) and the open-elite division, respectively.
From the Bikers’ Den, the participants will traverse Damortis and Rosario, La Union, Sison, Pozorrubio, Manaoag, San Jacinto, San Fabian, then back to Bikers’ Den with a distance of 75 kilometers, approximately. Starting time 9:30 a.m. Like in the past, the bikefest will be sponsored Excellent Noodles of Alex Billan.
* * * *
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purity for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. TITUS 2: 13
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
