Nonito Donaire’s Trainer Embraces Rematch With Cesar Juarez

The trainer/father of five division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (37-3, 24KOs) believes that a rematch between Nonito and Mexico’s rugged Cesar Juarez (18-5, 14KOs) will be “a good one.”

“Dodong” Donaire told BoxingScene.com/The Standard that a rematch is “what the people and the network (ABS-CBN) want” and indicated he too would be ready for a rematch.

Juarez who scored a stunning 8th round knockout of previously undefeated Prince Albert Pagara before a sell-out crowd  at the San Mateo Events Center on Saturday night in California, after being dropped by a classic left hook in the dying seconds of the opening round stormed back with a flurry of wicked body shots that had Pagara groggy at the end of round seven before a four-punch combination sent Pagara to the canvas in the eight round.

At that point Pagara was prostrate on all fours before he was stretched out and rushed to the Stanford Medical Center where he was pronounced “fine” after a CTScan and other tests and was cleared to fly home on Monday.

However, doctors advised Pagara that he should not engage in any contact sports for at least two weeks although existing rules of the Philippine Games and Amusements Board prescribe a 45 day layoff following a knockout.

Although he didn’t watch the fight “Dodong” Donaire  said he understands that Pagara stood in front of Juarez and exchanged big shots which was a tactical mistake and he eventually paid the price.

When Donaire and Juarez clashed for the vacant WBO title in Puerto Rico last December it was marked by several brutal exchanges in the second half of the fight which Donaire won handily following two knockdowns he scored in the 4th round that negated the comeback of Juarez in the championship rounds.

www.boxingscene.com/nonito-donaires-trainer-embraces-rematch-with-cesar-juarez–106544?print_friendly=1

The sensational crowd of over 23,000 who watched WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire successfully defend his title with a dominating 3rd round TKO over No. 4 ranked former Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak and the huge 25.4 TV ratings on ABS-CBN Channel 2 has attracted the attention of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who had to skip the fight because of a bad back but sent executive producer Brad Jacobs to represent him and saw how ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN combined to present a world class event.

The result is Top Rank wants to continue to relationship in staging Donaire’s next title defense also at the sprawling Cebu Sports Center or in Dubai where ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN have staged highly successful “Pinoy Pride” events in the past at the International Trade Center.

However, if the next title defense of the five division world champion is staged in Dubai it will be at one of the larger venues in the United Arab Emirates.

The two possible opponents are both handled by Top Rank – WBO No. 1 ranked super bantamweight, unbeaten Jessie Magdaleno or undefeated featherweight Oscar Valdez who has a fight lined up for him on July 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena possibly against WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko which leaves Magdaleno as the possible challenger especially after he told Steve Kim of Boxing Scene “I would love a crack at Donaire next, “who’s record now stands at 22-0(16 KO’s).

Magdaleno said “I’ve been waiting for awhile and now that he (Nonito) has a WBO title, I want it even more.”

Magdaleno’s complemented Donaire as “a great fighter, I feel like he did what he did in boxing already and he put on a great show Friday night (when he beat Cesar Juarez to win the vacant title but I feel like his time is done and it’s time for the new generation to make their mark in the history books and in boxing and feel like that fighter who can do that.”

Magdaleno’s manager Frank Espinoza told BoxingScene.com that he and promoter Bob Arum had spoken about a possible title fight and they both liked the idea saying” I think Jessie is more than ready to step up at this point.”

Both Donaire and Magdaleno are promoted by Top Rank but Arum said that while he is more than willing to make the fight he has one condition that “We have to have a clear understanding and a program that (Jessie) is going to be able to make the 122 limit because his last three or four fights he’s been way over the limit and we can’t tolerate that.”

In his last fight on October 17th Magdaleno came in at 127.5 pounds stopping Filipino Vergel Nebron in one round and Arum insisted “I’m not going ahead with that fight unless I have complete assurances plus a plan, a nutritionist, that he’s going to make the fight.”

But the veteran promoter likes the idea of this match-up saying “I like the fight because it’s a fight that resonates in Las Vegas, both of the guys live in Vegas.” As for when Magdaleno fights again the 24-year old southpaw explained, “It’s in the works, right now.“

www.philboxing.com/news/story-118940.html

  By Ronnie Nathanielsz –

Two weeks after eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao scored an impressive unanimous twelve round decision in his trilogy with Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley and announced he was hanging up his gloves to pursue his mission of public service through election to the Senate in next month’s elections, Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire stepped up to assume Manny’s mantle of national sports hero by crushing former Hungarian Olympian and world No. 4 ranked Zsolt Bedak in three rounds before an ecstatic crowd of 25,000 supporters at the sprawling Cebu City Sports Center on a hot and humid Saturdaynight.

After an initial feeling-out round, Donaire connected with his lethal left hook to send the challenger who is himself known as “Mr. Left Hook” crashing to the canvas midway in round two.

With blood dripping from his battered nose, Bedak gamely got up only to be deposited on the seat of his trunks with another vicious left hook that had “no mercy” written all over it.

The bell mercifully saved the Hungarian Olympian who had lost only once before in his career as a pro in a title fight against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr who won by a 10th round TKO after Bedak who suffered a broken jaw in round two survived in a gallant effort for eight more rounds before he called it quits. Vasquez himself was dropped and beaten in lopsided fashion by Donaire who won the super bantamweight title at the Alamadome in San Antonio Texas some years ago.

It was clear the end was near as Donaire, cheered on by fight fans who had embraced him after his heroic battle against an unbelievably strong Cesar Juarez of Mexico to win the 122 pound crown for the second time following his crushing 6th round stoppage against the bigger, stronger Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters, chased the wobbly challenger and ripped into him this time with a cracking right hand that dropped Bedak for a third time giving renowned referee Russell Mora no choice but to call a halt to the massacre at 2:44 of the third round.

Despite a battered, bloodied face with blood dripping from his nose and mouth, Bedak assured media that he was fine.

Donaire won the hearts of the hometown crowd by speaking in Bisaya since the island of Cebu is proud of its language and boxing heritage. With this memorable performance, Donaire showed that he is indeed worthy of the monicker “Flash”, a name that was worn by Cebu’s favorite son and legendary boxer, Gabriel Elorde, the son of a poor farmer from the town of Bogo who was the longest reigning Filipino world champion until WBO light flyweight Donnie Nietes punched his way to surpass the record in January last year.

ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer who teamed up with lead promoter Top Rank and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN told The Standard that the plan is to see whether Donaire’s next title defense could also be staged in the Philippines in the face of the massive support from Filipino fight fans looking for someone to carry the torch for Philippine boxing.

www.philboxing.com/news/story-118577.html

  By Ronnie Nathanielsz –

Newly crowned WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino” Flash Donaire will make the first defense of his WBO super bantamweight title at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila either on April 16 or 23.

Donaire had earlier indicated he was hoping his next title defense will be in Manila so he can repay the fans who have supported him especially after his gallant performance against Cesar Juarez of Mexico to win the WBO super bantamweight title for the second time around.

The New Standard/boxingmirror.com learned that the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN had come to terms with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who recently signed a three-fight deal with Donaire for 2016, Donaire, Asia’s leading promotional outfit, ALA Promotions and Donaire himself.

Arum had previously told us that Donaire would defend his title against Evgeny Gradovich, the former featherweight champion nicknamed the “Russian-Mexican” sometime in late April after the planned Manny Pacquiao fight on April 9 although Pacquiao has still to pick an opponent.

Donaire who arrived last week from Puerto Rico via Los Angeles with wife Rachel and their two sons, said they plan to stay in the country until February but if the title defense in Manila pushes through he will stay and train in the country until then.

Donaire told us at a luncheon hosted by Gabby Lopez, the top honcho of the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN, that Gradovich has been calling him out and although they are friends and he was a sparring partner when he prepared for the Wilfredo Vazquez Jr title fight, its all business and nothing personal.

He said Gradovich “is like Cesar Juarez. He keeps coming forward and throws a lot of punches even when retreating” but conceded that he doesn’t have too much power.

Donaire told the New Standard/boxingmirro.com that he just has to study tapes of his opponent and indicated that he didn’t have tapes of Juarez to study before the fight and couldn’t do it because the opponent from whom he won the WBO Intercontinental title was a southpaw.

Donaire said he will fight anybody they put in front of him and emphasized “I’m ready to train, ready to go.”

The WBO super bantamweight champion a second time around praised wife Rachel for his change in attitude and habits and his father/trainer “Dodong” Donaire for “doing an amazing job” both during training and during the fight itself but admitted he couldn’t implement all his instructions in-between rounds because of “the freak accident” when he was tripped by Puerto Rican referee, Pena.

He said there were times during the fight when he nailed Juarez with thunderous punches to the body and head and he seemingly fell unconscious for a second but then just as suddenly woke up making Nonito wonder how he did it.

Donaire was happy to have redeemed his reputation with the brutal “Fight of the Year’ candidate and welcomed the tremendous response he has received for his remarkable performance against a fighter of the caliber of Juarez.

Gradovich, a fleet-footed southpaw with quick hands and a fighter who throws a lot of punches even when back-pedaling won the featherweight title by a 9th round TKO after in a rematch with Australia’s Billy Dib on November 24, 2013 after winning the title via a twelve round split decision in March 1, 2013.

Despite putting on a game defense of his title on May 30 this year, Gradovich lost by an 8th round technical decision to Britain’s Lee Selby last October 24.

The Daily Mail of Britain reported that Selby”put on an exceptional performance at the O2 Arena but said that the manner in which the rough Gradovich was dethroned was not the natural conclusion that seemed inevitable”.

A deep cut from an accidental clash of heads did the damage in the seventh round and the referee called for the doctor a minute into the following round and after a quick inspection of Gradovich’s right eye the fight was waved off.

The Daily Mail said “that was unfortunate but in going to the scorecards it revealed the narrow facts of Selby’s brilliance. Two judges gave Selby who is referred to as “The Welsh Mayweather” a six round margin and a third judge gave Selby all eight rounds.”

The report said considering the fight was “against a big-punching Russian in his fifth title defense the performance was quite exceptional, a master-class of dancing feet and quick hands” and pointed out that “everytime Gradovich surged, he seemed to be tagged by a disappearing man.”

http://philboxing.com/news/story-114894.html

 By Maloney L. Samaco

Filipino sportswriters praised Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire for his unanimous decision win over Cesar Juarez of Mexico. But international sports scribes who may had seen Donaire as the winner, had varied reactions.

Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene appreciated Donaire’s efforts: “On this particular evening, there was minimal opportunity to seek the nearest exit. Had he done so, it would have been chalked up to Father Time catching up to him. Instead, Donaire dug deep and for the first time in an already incredible career was forced to persevere in an action-packed fight.”

Dan Rafael of ESPN also had a high score for the Filipino Flash : “ESPN.com also scored the fight 116-110 for Donaire, the 2012 consensus fighter of the year, who won his third fight in a row this year since returning to the 122-pound weight class. He dropped down in weight following a sixth-round knockout loss to Nicholas Walters that cost him his featherweight world title in October 2014.”

Chris Williams of Boxing News 24 picked Juarez as the winner: “I had Juarez winning the fight by a narrow margin because he clearly won rounds 7 through 12, and was robbed of a knockdown in the 10th, when he dropped Donaire with a left hook to the head. It’s unbelievable that Juarez didn’t get credit for knocking Donaire down in the 10th. It was just a really poor call by the referee because it was a left hook to the head that put Donaire down.”

Brian Mazique of Bleacher Report agreed with the judges: “Despite Juarez’s strong finish, the judges got it right. Donaire built a sizable lead early on, and he did more than enough to win the fight. That said, the 33-year-old still didn’t look as sharp as he did when he won Fighter of the Year in 2012.”

Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook scored a closer fight: “BLH had it slightly closer at 115-111 for Donaire…This was a massive test for him, not so much in skills but in desire, stamina, and heart. He proved out tonight, but how many more of these does he have in him, and is he still good enough to avoid this type of fight?”

Derek Bonnett of Seconds Out was not satisfied of Donaire’s win: “Nonito Donaire sought to re-establish himself as a world champion worthy of big-time boxing match-ups under the limelight. Donaire…did just that for about six rounds against Cesar Juarez…For the other six rounds, Donaire swelled, bled, tired, and clung to victory after injuring his ankle in a performance that can only be described as harmful to Donaire’s prospects of reclaiming a place among boxing’s elite.”

A rematch was called for and Donaire who appreciated the courage of his Mexican foe wanted to give him a return bout. Much credit must be given to Juarez who fought like a wounded tiger, a trademark for Mexican warriors.

But meanwhile, it’s so ecstatic for the nation to celebrate another champion coming home in the Yuletide Season.

CONGRATS NONITO! We are so proud if you!

http://philboxing.com/news/story-114680.html

  Credit:  Photo by Alexis Cuarezma / Getty –

Former five-division champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (35-3, 23 KO) will look to move one step closer to another shot at a world title. On Friday night in San Juan, PuertoRico, the 33-year-old Donaire will take on 24-year-old Cesar Juarez (17-3, 13 KO) for the regional WBO International junior featherweight (super bantamweight) title.

The fight is the co-featured bout on a card that will also see young Puerto Rican star Felix Verdejo in a showcase fight against JosenilsonDos Santos.

Juarez is listed as the No. 1 contender in the WBO‘s latest rankings, per the organization’s official site; Donaire is second. Despite Juarez’s higher current ranking and possession of the WBO regional title, Donaire has far more experience, and it would appear he is the more talented fighter.

When: Friday at 10 p.m. ET

Where: Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico

TV: truTV

Live Stream: truTV Live

Last Time Out

Juarez Guts Out Victory over Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr.

The Mexico native deserves credit for his heart and desire. In his last fight in July, Juarez faced Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. The former never stopped coming forward, throwing punches and battling for the WBO International junior featherweight title. Juarez would drop Sanchez in the 10th round.

After 12 grueling frames, Juarez proved to have more in the tank than his opponent. He was rightfully awarded a unanimous-decision victory and the title. It was easily the biggest win of Juarez’s career.

 Credit:  Photo by Anthony Wallace / Getty Images –  Donaire punishes Settoul with a hard right hand in July.

In a vintage performance, Donaire disposed of Anthony Settoul in the second round. Donaire had all of his weapons on display in the short, but destructive bout.

He dropped Settoul twice in the first round with crushing left hooks to the body. In the second round, he masterfully slipped a Settoul jab and countered with a lighting-quick right hand over the top.

Settoul went down in a heap. Seconds later, his corner threw in the towel, giving Donaire the TKO victory.

Donaire Reflects and Looks Forward

Coming off such a spectacular win, Donaire has to feel a little better about his career than he did this time last year. In October 2014, Donaire lost his WBA Super World featherweight title when he was stopped for the first time in his career by Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters.

Top Rank Boxing tweeted a quote from Donaire discussing the loss to Walters:

“For the 1st time in my life, I touched the canvas.” – @filipinoflash on the @AxeManWalters fight #truTVboxing

Since that loss, Donaire is 2-0, including the win over Settoul. He now has his eyes on some of the best fighters in the weight region. That includes WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko:

“It’s not just @vasyllomachenko, who ever the best TR have , I want to be in there with them.” – @filipinoflash on possible opponents.

That said, Donaire doesn’t appear to be looking past Juarez. He was complimentary of his young opponent:

.@filipinoflash on Dec 11th opponent, Cesar Juarez -” He’s non stop all the time. He seems to get stronger every round ” .

Is that going to be enough for Juarez to pull off the improbable victory?

Prediction

There’s no way Juarez has a chance to compete with Donaire. The speed and quick-twitch athleticism are drastically in favor of the more decorated Filipino fighter.

The physical advantage says nothing of Donaire‘s decided edge in experience. If this fight makes it beyond the fourth round, it’ll be a testament to Juarez’s heart.

If it goes beyond the sixth, Juarez’s corner should be investigated for allowing their fighter to take unnecessary punishment. In any case, Donaire will win by KO/TKO.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2596967-nonito-donaire-vs-cesar-juarez-fight-time-date-live-stream-and-tv-info

By Ronnie Nathanielsz –

Former three division world champion Vic Darchinyan is seeking to avenge his stunning 5th round knockout by four division champion and  2012 “Fighter of the Year” Nonito “The Filipino Flash” on July 7, 2007 when they face off in a rematch at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas on November 10, Manila Time.

Darchinyan’s manager Frank Espinoza told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard  that Darchinyan was “doing very well in training” and works out at the Glendale Boxing Gym in California.

He said since the fight will be a ten round, featherweight bout Darchinyan has no problems making the weight. It will be the first 126 pound fight for both Donaire and Darchinyan.

Espinoza told the Standard that Darchinyan “is getting ready and is looking for redemption. He has waited six years for this fight and wants to take advantage of the chance to avenge the loss of his IBF and IBO flyweight belts to Donaire.”

The manager said Darchinyan has been sparring with former two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez who has a record of six knockouts in six wins as a pro and became the first Mexican Youth World Champion.

Espinoza reported that another sparring mate of Darchinyan is undefeated Australian IBO super  featherweight champion Will Tomlinson who has a record of  21-0-1 with 12 knockouts..

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told us last Monday before his return to the US after checking on Manny Pacquiao’s training for the showdown with Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in Macau on November 24 noted that Donaire will have a tough fight on his hands against Drachinyan “who really launched Donaire’s career” when he lost in July 2007.

Arum described his Corpus Christi event as “a great card” with former WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia who he said “is a sensational fighter” going up against Ramon “Rocky” Martinez for the Puerto Rican’s junior lightweight title in the main event which Arum indicated “should be a terrific fight”  and Vanes Martirosyan fighting for the vacant  junior middleweight title against Demetrius  Andrade with undefeated Jamaican Nicholas Walters (22-0, 18 KO’s) taking on Alberto Garza (25—5-1, 20 KO’s)  of Mexico for the WBO featherweight title.

Meantime, Donaire who has been working out at trainer Robert Garcia’s gym in Oxnard has had his father, Nonito “Dodong” Donaire Sr also helping in preparing Nonito for his first fight as a featherweight and by all indications Donaire Sr has been a welcome addition to the training camp.

Arum said that during a meeting with ABS-CBN’S Gabby Lopez and Peter Musgni  he was told that the giant broadcast network “is going to take all four fights.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/vic-darchinyan-looking-redemption-with-donaire–71125