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The smartness of Nonito Donaire

The one thing that strikes any reasonable boxing journalist who talks to Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire and watches him fight is that he is a truly smart individual both in and outside the ring.

His latest victory over Japan's highly-touted southpaw Toshiaki Nishioka, who had disposed of such Mexican warriors as Jhonny Gonzalez and Rafael Marquez, the brother of Juan Manuel Marquez, justified his ranking as WBC champion emeritus and holder of the coveted WBC Diamond Belt.

The belt studded with diamonds and rubies that costs around $25,000 was first worn proudly by its initial champion, "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao after he hammered Miguel Cotto into submission in twelve rounds on November 14, 2009 to win the WBO welterweight title. He was followed by WBC middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez of Argentina who captured the belt when he scored an 8th round TKO over Serhiy Dzinziruk on March 12, 2011.

Significantly, Pacquiao is ranked No.2 in the Ring Magazine pound-for pound list in a tie with undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr. while Martinez is currently listed at No. 4 and Donaire one rung lower at No. 5.

Donaire smartly and clinically disposed of Nishioka, dropping him with a perfectly-timed left uppercut in the sixth round after the Japanese pitifully refused to engage Donaire in the first five rounds. Donaire then dropped him for a second and final time in the ninth round with a cracking right straight that quickly forced referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to call a halt at 1:54 of the round as Nishioka's corner got ready to throw in the towel.

The second knockdown was a masterful execution. He lured Nishioka by faking off towards the ropes and allowing the southpaw to throw a flurry and gain confidence before waiting for a slight opening. He then cracked Nishioka with an explosive right straight to end Nishioka's night before a large contingent of Japanese media and fans who had flown in from various parts of Japan.

WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel described Donaire as "a shining star in boxing" and a top fighter in the pound-for-pound rankings.

After the demolition of Nishioka, Valcarcel said it is clear that Donaire is the successor to Pacquiao and that aside from possessing amazing hand speed and power "he is a very intelligent, thinking fighter."

Donaire revealed his true genius as a thinking fighter even in his preparation for the fight. Aware of Nishioka's reputation as the so-called "Speed King" and a fighter who hadn't lost in the past eight years, Nonito trained like he never trained before.

But what struck us was the fact that he had picked sparring partners who had remarkable speed and a couple who were bigger and conceivably stronger than him, thus showing the two facets which he needed to demonstrate against Nishioka — hand speed and punching power.

Beyond that was his movement. Normally quick in his lateral movements you would have noticed that in the fight against Nishioka, Donaire constantly moved to his right to prevent the Japanese from connecting with his vaunted left straight.

The nasty split of his skin in his left hand as early as the second round hampered Nonito and the pain worsened after he dropped Nishioka with a left uppercut in round six.

Quickly, he changed his fight plan, resorting to using his right hand as a weapon of destruction and banking on the left to merely keep Nishioka at bay by flicking it in his face.

A review of the two knockdowns themselves accentuate the ring savvy of Nonito.

He had discussed with us, prior to the fight, that after he studied the tapes of Nishioka, he realized that he was open for an uppercut as the Japanese tended to duck and come forward. He also noticed that in the Marquez fight the Japanese came on strong in the championship rounds and looked good because although Marquez was tough, he moved comparatively slowly and Nonito knew that with his speed, Nishioka would have problems.

In fact the Japanese conceded in a post-fight interview that he had never faced someone so fast as Donaire.

One of Donaire's admirers is HBO Sports ringside commentator Max Kellerman who, after Nonito disposed of Nishioka, said "The Filipino Flash" was one of the best in the pound-for-pound category and together with Andre Ward should crowd Pacquiao for the No. 2 slot.

Donaire showed his smarts when he told boxingscene.com, "If I started to listen to people's opinions I would be hurt and distraught by my haters" while letting out a laugh.

He went on to state, "I'm honored that they put me in the pound-for-pound list. I do the things that I do, not because of that but because of my love for the sport and because I want to go in and keep reaching the very top of what I can do in this game."

In our many conversations with him, Donaire has never looked at Pacquiao in a competitive sense, either in the ring or for the loyalty of his millions of fans, even though Donaire himself has his own solid following.

Indeed, if anything, he has always praised Pacquiao for his incredible achievements in the ring and has openly stated that in wishes to follow the path that Pacquiao has set forth. In many respects Donaire is taking pretty much the same journey, having won three division titles and one interim title to make it four in all, compared to Pacquiao's eight which also includes an interim title.

Donaire's goal is to move up to featherweight and super featherweight which is reachable considering his build. In some ways he wishes to emulate the feat of the late Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, a Visayan like him, who reigned as world junior lightweight champion for almost seven-and-a-half years.

At a lunch at our home in the Philippines sometime ago, Nonito watched tapes of Elorde fights which are part of our treasured boxing library and sought to emulate Elorde's defensive shoulder movement which came long before Mayweather virtually took ownership of it and perfected the moves.

Donaire followed in Elorde's footsteps when he starred in a Visayan movie "Pala Ta Ang Nagbuot" which means "Fate Will Decide" which is a remake of a 1969 film where the lead role was played by Elorde with the famed actress Gloria Sevilla who co-stars in the remake directed by her son Dandin Ranillo.

There were those who cried during some sequences of the movie with English sub-titles when it was screened in various locations in California.

Donaire's main intention in making the movie is "to help revive the Visayan movie industry" which has been lying dormant for a couple of decades after being big in the 1950's and 60's.

While he can also sing quite well, Donaire may pursue such ventures more as a form of relaxation rather than a serious career or business proposition. It will no doubt enhance his star qualities but one thing he has absolutely no inclination for, is dabbling in politics. That's best left to the Pacquiaos of the boxing world, although he does his fair share of community work and fulfills his social responsibilities by espousing worthy causes.

In a sense his game plan both in and outside the ring demonstrated just how smart a young man he is.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.

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