Donaire outlasts Juarez in possible Fight of Year

Filipino boxing superstar Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire lands a bone-crushing right to the chin of Mexican foe Cesar Juarez en route to winning a hard-earned unanimous decision win and snatching the vacant WBO super bantamweight belt in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Contributed)

Nonito Donaire Jr. reclaimed the WBO super bantamweight belt after outpointing Cesar Juarez of Mexico Saturday (Manila time) in one of the best fights of the year at Roberto Clemente Colesium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Donaire, 33, won back the crown he once lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux two years ago after the undefeated Cuban was stripped off his belts due to inactivity, but not after having to survive a gritty Juarez in the latter part of the fight.

Earlier this month the WBO decided to put the title at stake for Juarez and Donaire Jr. in the fight which was initially set as a title eliminator.

Donaire (36-3, 23 KOs) dominated the early rounds — scoring a knockdown in the fourth round off a left hook — that gave the 2012 “Fighter of the Year” the cushion he needed to get the judges’ nod.

But an aggressive Juarez, the top contender in the division,  turned the tide in the middle rounds, battering the 33-year-old Donaire who was clearly slowing by the seventh round under an onslaught that left him with one eye cut and swelling.

Juarez, 24, should have been credited with a knockdown in the 10th, when his left hook sent Donaire down. But Donaire had enough left to land effectively in the final rounds of the slugfest that’s sure to earn a Fight of the Year nomination.

Judges Nelson Vazquez and Jose Roberto Torres both turned in identical, 116-110 scores for Donaire while the third judge Gerardo Martinez put the Filipino way ahead, 117-109.

The resurgent Donaire has now won three in a row since his return to 122 pounds following a sixth-round knockout loss to Jamaican Nicholas Walters last year.

Aside from the deep cut in his right eye and a welt in his left eye, Donaire also dislocated his left thumb and sprained his ankle after he tripped over in the sixth round. He would later tell the press that his sprained ankle slowed him down from the seventh round onwards allowing Juarez to launch his attacks.