Nonito Donaire’s resurgence has finally come full circle.
“The Filipino Flash”, who had lost twice in the past couple of years, went back to his root to revitalize his career. After back-to-back wins, in Manila and in Macau, the four-division world champion had the opportunity to regain the belt he lost exactly two years and eight months ago.
In the WBO super bantamweight championship bout between Donaire and Cesar Juarez Saturday morning held at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Donaire dominated Juarez in the first six rounds of the fight. “The Filipino Flash” was on a whole other plane during that span, landing crisp combinations, including two huge knockdowns in the fourth round.
However, Donaire slowly lost his stamina as the match went on. The Filipino-American’s aggressiveness dropped, and he had a tough time weaving out from combinations by Juarez, due to an ankle sprain he sustained in the sixth. Stinging jabs by Juarez in the seventh resulted to swollen left eye for the Filipino.
With Juarez gaining the momentum in the following rounds, Donaire was able to get his second win in the final two rounds of the championship bout. “The Filipino Flash” went toe-to-toe with Juarez in a slugfest.
In the end, the judges deemed that Donaire’s effort in the first six rounds was enough to give the Filipino a unanimous decision victory (116-110, 116-110, 117-109) to regain possession of the WBO Super Bantamweight championship. This brings the 33 year old Filipino-American’s slate up to 33-3-23KO.
