FORMER five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire added another WBO super bantamweight belt to his trophy room, but not after 12 rounds of veritable hell against No.1-ranked Cesar Juarez before an enthusiastic crowd at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Donaire, the 2012 “Fighter of the Year” and No. 5 in the pound-for-pound rankings at that time, looked like re-asserting his mastery of the 122-pound division as the No. 2-ranked Filipino dominated the early rounds with excellent counter-punching behind a stinging jab, a thundering left hook and a wicked right hand.
A heavy favorite to win, Donaire dropped Juarez twice in Round 4 with a thundering right and then moments later with a vicious left hook, before he appeared to ease off in Round 5, allowing the rugged Mexican to slowly claw back into the contest. Juarez then decided to brawl, pushing Donaire against the ropes and hammering him to the body, turning the tide in what turned into a brutal waterfront brawl.
Through the middle rounds, Donaire suffered a deep cut on his right eye, which required several stitches and had a welt under his left eye, while his left thumb was also swollen as he began to dramatically fade. Juarez threw caution to the winds and went after Donaire, in the process leaving himself open for some telling counter-punches by “The Filipino Flash,” who appeared willing to get hit provided he could land one big counter-punch.
A slip in Round 6 when Donaire tripped over referee Ramon Pena resulted in twisting his ankle, which seemed to hamper his movement.
ABS-CBN reporter Dyan Castillejo, who was at ringside, said Nonito told her he couldn’t get off the ropes because he couldn’t move, stressing that he was not tired. Castillejo quoted Donaire as saying that at one point in the later rounds, he felt like giving up because Juarez was like a bull and was relentless in his aggression.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum paid tribute to Donaire for his unbelievable courage.
Although Donaire rocked Juarez a couple of times with telling right and left hooks, his foe continued to storm forward in the typical style of a Mexican warrior and appeared to overcome an initially hostile Puerto Rican crowd with his gallantry and readiness to fight, no matter what the consequences.
Juarez, who had been knocked down before but never knocked out, maintained that reputation as he not only survived the early hammering he received from Donaire. He even had Donaire in deep trouble himself in Rounds 8 and 9, before the Filipino dug deep into his courageous heart in the 11th and 12th rounds, with some telling flurries to win a lopsided decision on the scorecards of all three Puerto Rican judges, but which certainly did not reflect the closeness of the fight—a “Fight of the Year” candidate.
