A monster came in a flash
Nonito Donaire, the Filipino Flash, first battled Naoya “The Monster” Inoue on November 8, 2019 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. It was a classic fight and went the full 12 rounds. For the first time in his boxing career, the Japanese suffered a cut above his right eye courtesy of a left hook in the second round.
In the end, Inoue, who knocked down Donaire in the eleventh round with a body shot, won the match by unanimous decision. That fight was later voted by Ring magazine as Fight of the Year.
In the same arena last Tuesday, June 7, a rematch was held between the two fighters for the WBC, WBA and IBF bantamweight unification titles.
Inoue had the upper hand in the first round. I was hoping for a flash of recovery from Nonito at the start of the second round, but at 1:24 in the round, with a monster right to Donaire’s temple, dropped him to the canvass. Seeing Donaire struggling to get back on his feet, the third man on the ring stopped the fight, not even bothering to count.
Donaire showed some flashes of his speed and power but it was not enough for the much younger Inoue.
The Japanese, 29, earned his title fair and square and has won his 23rd consecutive fight, 20 by knockouts. He added the WBC belt to the WBA and IBF belts he holds.
At 39, Nonito should seriously think about hanging his gloves and bask in the memories of his glorious past. A sure inductee to the sport’s Hall of Fame, the pride of Bohol is the first bantamweight to win that class title three times, and the oldest ever to win it.
Donaire had a total of 9 championships in four weight classes, holding world titles in three consecutive decades – 2000, 2010 and 2020, making him the sixth boxer to do such a feat following Evander Holyfield, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
It was a privilege to witness one of boxing’s best and coming from our country at that. Like Pacman, Nonito Donaire made us proud. It was great while it flashed but good things got ended by a monster from Japan.
Doing another battle for public office is another story and I won’t be a fan this time.
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