Donaire Dominates Martinez; Viloria Knocks Out Solis

Andrew Fruman recaps the action from last night's (Sunday afternoon if you're in the Philippines) Top Rank show.

It was a good day for Filipino boxing, as both Nonito Donaire (pictured) and Brian Viloria treated the home crowd at Araneta Coliseum in Manila to stoppage victories.

Photo © Ray Kasprowicz

In the main event, Donaire took care of business in impressive style with a TKO over previously unbeaten Raul Martinez. Using a sharp left jab and powerful combinations, which included some excellent body work, Donaire dominated the bout, sending Martinez to the canvas on 4 occasions. The final knockdown came at 2:42 of round 4, which prompted referee Pete Podgorski to call a halt to the action.

Donaire scored the first knockdown with a cross between an uppercut and a left hook that crashed into the side of the challenger’s jaw. Martinez chose to take the 8 count on his knee before rising and indicating he was good to go, but was down again before the opening frame was over. As was the case the first knockdown, Martinez didn’t appear hurt, but the gulf in class between the two fighters was abundantly clear.

The strategy for Martinez coming into the bout was to work his way inside against his taller opponent, but found it an impossible task. He came out aggressively for the second round, only to run into some well placed counters that included a left hook which deposited him on the canvas again.

Donaire was a little more restrained in the third round, choosing to use his jab more, but still had things all his own way. Other than landing the occasional right hand, Martinez just couldn’t get anything started.

Martinez landed a lunging right hand at one stage in the 4th round, but for the most part it was all Donaire. The final blow was a left uppercut that sent Martinez stumbling backwards, and had referee Podgorski signaling and end without a count. Martinez wasn’t in rough shape and was quick to protest the call, but given the one sided nature of the bout, it’s hard to find too much fault with the call.

In my opinion, there was no real value in the bout continuing. It's just one loss. Martinez can bounce back from that, while taking a really bad beating - and I think that was looking very likely - would have been tougher to rebound from.

As far as Nonito Donaire goes, I think it’s safe to say that a rematch with Vic Darchinyan is the bout everyone (other than maybe Joseph Agbeko and Gary Shaw) wants to see. C'mon Shaw, stop being an ass. If Vic gets by Agbeko, get him and Nonito signed up. Boxing fans want it. Vic wants it. Listen to your fighter! Let’s see it!

The co-main event…

Brian Viloria capped a terrific performance by knocking out Ulises Solis with a crunching right hand in the waning seconds of the 11th round. It was a spectacular finish to a bruising encounter, and a great moment for the 108 pound Hawaiian of Filipino descent, fighting for the first time in the county of his heritage.

Known more for his left hook, it was Viloria’s right hand that proved to be the story of the fight. He found a home for it right off the bat, stunning Solis on a couple occasions in the first round and continued to land the punch with authority, driving Solis back on multiple occasions in building an early lead.

Solis was most effective going to the body, especially with his left hook, although he also landed a number of right hands downstairs as well. After a rough start the dedicated body attack helped the rugged Mexican stay in the fight, but it also came at a price on the scorecards. Solis was penalized in both rounds 3 and 5 for punches that strayed south of the border.

To further his troubles in the 5th round, Solis also suffered a cut, just above and to the side of his right eye.

Undaunted by the deductions, Solis kept blasting away downstairs, and combined with an effective jab and some nice uppercuts, managed to mount a rally in the mid-rounds. After winning rounds 6 and 7 on my card – two rounds with featured several intense exchanges and great back and forth action – the 8th was up for grabs until Solis almost put Viloria down with seconds left in the round after catching the crowd favourite with a combination along the ropes.

The 9th round featured more bruising action, with Viloria rocking Solis early with a right hand and pressing his advantage by forcing the title holder into the ropes. Yet once again, as he had done all night long, Solis returned fire, digging to the body in a gutsy effort to get back his momentum. It was terrific back and forth stuff.

In the 10th, Viloria seemed to up his intensity, and the punishing toll of the battle was now clearly showing on the champ, who was starting to look a little ragged. Viloria was none too fresh either, but he continued to land the cleaner, flashier punches, and while Solis still gamely fought back, it wasn’t with the same vigor he’d shown in previous rounds.

Viloria’s upper hand became even more pronounced in the 11th, and while Solis had taken heavy leather all night without going down, it wasn’t a big surprise that he eventually gave way. Tired and bleeding from cuts around both eyes, he was still bravely coming forward, when he walked into the fight ending right hand.

It was a perfect shot on the money and Solis was down for at least a few worrisome minutes, before being helped to his stool. Eventually, he was able to get to his feet and received a warm round of applause from the appreciative crowd before leaving the ring.

As a fan, I’m always humbled when I see a fighter simply refuse to accept his fate, and Ulises Solis was the epitome of that tonight. That really was a hell of an effort. He took an awful lot of clean hard punches, especially to the head, yet remained grimly determined for as long as his body would allow.

Great win for Viloria, and especially satisfying having it take place in the Philippines.

If these two don’t go at it again, and given the grueling nature of the bout, I wouldn’t be surprised if Solis took some extended time off, how about Viloria against Ivan Calderon?

e-mail Andrew Fruman
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Segura stops Canchila in Bizarre Ending

Michael Nelson recaps Saturday night's rematch between Cesar Canchila and Geovanni Segura.

After one of the oddest endings in recent memory, Giovanni Segura exacted his revenge against Cesar Canchila by stopping him at the conclusion of round 4, winning the interim WBA light flyweight title. Canchila defeated Segura by unanimous decision in their hotly contested battle last July.

The bout began almost in identical fashion to the way their first match started; Segura swarming Canchila with a whirlwind of punches. Segura hurt Canchila within the first minute of the round and spent the next minute pounding Canchila along the ropes. Canchila gamely fought back, but got caught with a devastating left hook that immediately dropped him.

After Canchila struggled to his feet, referee Julio Alvarado insisted that he walk to him and Cesar responded by stumbling backwards, unable to control his legs. Astonishingly, Alvarado didn’t stop the fight, and asked Canchila again to walk towards him. Canchila gained his bearings and made it to Alvarado. The fight continued.

Showing an ability to recover that would make Ike Quartey proud, Canchila survived the round. The two warriors exchanged heavy blows throughout the 2nd stanza, as Canchila was now on steady legs giving as good as he got. That is, until Segura hit him with another huge shot that deposited Canchila on the seat of his pants. This time, Canchila got up without staggering.

In a candidate for round of the year, Segura came out for the 3rd throwing violent combinations as Canchila countered off the ropes. Canchila was against staggered with a big left hook, but Canchila managed to remain on his feet. The pace was starting to catch up to Giovanni, and near the end of the round, Canchila made a furious rally, slamming uppercuts to Segura’s body and repeatedly stinging him with right hands. Segura walked back to the corner with an eye that was quickly closing.

Round 4 featured more of the same; both men, viciously ripping into each other, with Canchila’s back to the ropes. At times, it appeared that the tide was changing as Segura was starting to gas. But the heavy-handed Segura was landing the harder blows.

The blistering action took a bizarre twist at the end of the round. Right before the bell sounded, Segura snapped Canchila’s head back with a flush blow on the chin, causing him to stagger into the ropes. The bell sounded and Segura instinctively stopped. Referee Alvarado, either not hearing the bell or completely ignoring it, did not make a move to get in between the fighters. Segura went back on the attack. The timekeeper sounded the bell several more times in an effort to notify Alvarado that the round was in fact over. Regardless, Segura continued punching, getting off a number of blows on his dazed opponent before Alvarado finally jumped in between the two and waved his arm.

What followed was a confusing scene: Canchila’s trainer grabbed his man and sat him down in the corner while Segura dropped to his knees in celebration. Problem was, nobody celebrated with him because everyone thought Julio Alvarado had simply indicated that the round was over, confirmed by the ring card girl stepping inside the ropes with a "5" placard in her hands. After a couple of awkward moments as Giovanni’s face turned from jubilant to perplexed, trainer Javier Capetillo picked Segura up off his knees to get him back into the corner. Alvarado then nodded to Capetillo and raised Segura's glove to clearly indicate to everyone that he had indeed won the fight.

The official time of the stoppage was 3:00 into round 4. Unofficially, it was more like 3:06 into round 4. I don’t recall a case where a referee let a fighter wale on his hurt opponent several seconds after a round has ended, and on top of that, wave the fight off instead of letting the man go back to his corner.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Giovanni Segura and Cesar Canchila engage in a third bout given the controversial nature of this one. They’ll always make for can’t-miss TV. Meanwhile, Julio Alvarado should be given some time off to review the rule book and invest in some hearing aids. Poor refereeing will continue to be a problem as long as it’s allowed to go unpunished. Fortunately, this time a man’s ego and record was the only thing that received injury.

Next time, the consequences might be dire.

e-mail Michael Nelson
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