Donnie, Donaire rule the roost

Boxing Yearender (1st of 2 Parts)

MANILA, Philippines – WBO minimumweight king Donnie Nietes and WBO superbantamweight titlist Nonito Donaire Jr. were the main characters who brought a silver lining to the Philippines showing in world championship boxing for 2015 but Manny Pacquiao stole the show by earning the biggest purse ever for a Filipino fighter even as he lost his WBO welterweight crown to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a unification showdown that turned out to be the highest grossing bout in history.

The report card for Filipino fighters in world title fights in 2015 was dismal. In all, there were 19 world championship bouts involving Filipino fighters who won in only six assignments. Nietes, who holds the record for the longest uninterrupted reign as world champion straddling two weight divisions since 2007, accounted for three of the six wins. In March, he retired Mexico’s Gilberto Parra in the ninth round at the Araneta Coliseum. In July, he outpointed another Mexican challenger Francisco Rodriguez, Jr. at the Waterfront Hotel Ballroom in Cebu City. And in October, Nietes defeated Mexico’s Juan Alejo in the eighth defense of his WBO 108-pound title at the StubHub Center in Carson City.

Nietes, 33, has a record of 37-1-4, with 21 KOs, and held the WBO minimumweight crown before claiming the WBO lightflyweight diadem in 2011. There is talk that Nietes will eventually move up to the flyweight division to challenge WBC champion Roman (Chocolatito) Gonzalez of Nicaragua. Nietes’ only loss was a split verdict to Indonesia’s Angky Angkota in Jakarta. Angkota weighed six pounds over the limit for the 2004 bout but Nietes fought him anyway in losing what appeared to be a hometown decision.

Donaire, 33, picked up another win for the country by pounding out a unanimous 12-round decision over Mexico’s Cesar Juarez for the vacant WBO 122-pound throne in Puerto Rico last Dec. 11. Juarez was decked twice in the fourth round but wouldn’t stay down. Donaire stepped on referee Ramon Pena’s foot in the sixth round as he backed away to recoil for a counter and the freak accident limited his mobility the rest of the way. Donaire hurt his left foot but refused to make it an excuse as he battled Juarez toe-to-toe until the final bell.  Boxing writers called it a hot candidate for Fight of the Year. In a poll conducted in the Top Rank web site, the Donaire-Juarez bout was voted Fight of the Year.

Donaire, who is in town for the holidays, said there are plans to stage his next fight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in April. It will be his first defense of the WBO superbantamweight title he won three weeks ago. Former IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich was initially mentioned as his challenger but now, the word is the Russian wants a tune-up fight to test the waters in dropping down in weight. So Donaire’s next opponent could be Hungary’s Zsolt Bedak or Mexico’s Rey Vargas or Argentina’s Julian Evaristo Aristule who are all rated in the top 10. Jessie Magdaleno, the No. 3 contender, is being reserved for a big showdown later this year.

Of the candidates, Vargas has the inside track. He’s the No. 6 contender with a 25-0 record, including 20 KOs. The 25-year-old slugger is a tormentor of Filipino fighters with his list of victims including Silvester Lopez twice, Daniel Ferreras, Vergel Nebran, Juanito Rubillar, Ernie Sanchez and Edward Mansito. Bedak, 32, is another plausible opponent with a record of 25-1, including 8 KOs. He is ranked No. 5. One of his victims is Filipino Ramie Laput who was stopped in seven rounds in Austria in 2009. Aristule, 32, is ranked No. 9 and has a record of 28-6, with 16 KOs. There are four Filipinos ranked in the WBO superbantamweight top 10 – No. 4 Albert Pagara, No. 7 Genesis Servania, No. 8 Juan Miguel Elorde and No. 10 Bernabe Concepcion.

Aside from Nietes and Donaire, the two other wins posted by Filipinos in world title fights in 2015 were courtesy of Randy Petalcorin who halted China’s Yi Ming Ma in the first round to retain his WBA interim lightflyweight crown in Beijing last April and Rey Loreto who also scored a first round knockout over South Africa’s Nkosinathi Joyi to keep his IBO lightflyweight title in Eastern Cape last March. Petalcorin, 23, has a 23-1-1 record, with 18 KOs, and deserves a shot at the regular world title. Loreto, 25, wasn’t paid his $42,000 purse in his first title defense and filed a case to collect it. Loreto’s record is 20-13, with 12 KOs. He hasn’t fought since stopping Joyi last March.

Pacquiao, 37, lost a unanimous decision to Mayweather in a WBC/WBA/WBO welterweight unification championship duel in Las Vegas last May. Pacquiao tore his rotator cuff in the fourth round and the injury showed in the way he couldn’t put his punches together in combinations. Although the decision was unanimous, Pacquiao made a strong case of being the aggressor as Mayweather was content to fight cautiously and wouldn’t engage. The fight brought in gross revenues of over $550 Million and Mayweather bankrolled at least $240 Million. It was estimated that Pacquiao’s share of the pie was over $120 Million. The much-awaited bout had a live gate of $72.2 Million and drew a record 4.4 million hits on pay-per-view.