Donaire: It was the country’s win

Nonito Donaire Jr.’s sensational ninth-round stoppage of Vic Darchinyan in a 10-round rematch yesterday in Texas came as a shot in the arm for the morale of a storm-devastated country.

Donaire took time to thank his fellow countrymen for the support even as the Filipinos, particularly those in Eastern Visayas, are still reeling from devastation brought by supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“It wasn’t my win tonight, it was the Philippines’ win,” Donaire said on Twitter a few hours after the fight held at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. “We are strong and we have faith.”

“Thank you to the Archangels and especially all the fans and Filipinos who watched despite the typhoon.”

Donaire fought Darchinyan, who he likewise floored six years ago in a fight which catapulted the Filipino boxer to stardom, again in a non-title grudge match with fans expecting no less than a knockout.

And Donaire delivered that in the 2:06 mark of the penultimate round with his lethal left hook, but not before absorbing blows from the 37-year-old Darchinyan, especially in the middle rounds.

Donaire was falling behind in two of the three judges cards going into the ninth round before his patented left hook came to the rescue.

Both boxers started tentatively and Donaire was content with landing right hand leads against the southpaw Darchinyan, whose awkward crab-like style proved to be more difficult to solve the second time around.

Darchinyan woke up in the fourth and stunned Donaire with a hard left. He repeated the feat near the end of the fifth round and pummeled Donaire on the ropes before the bell rang.

Darchinyan became more aggressive in the subsequent rounds and built a slim lead as Donaire had trouble putting combinations together and was content to throw one punch at a time.

After the eighth round, Darchinyan was ahead by 78-74 on two judges’ cards with one scoring it even at 76-76.

solid left hook

In the ninth, a sharp left hook almost sent Darchinyan sprawling out of the ring. He beat the count but Donaire moved in for the kill and pinned the wobbly Darchinyan in a corner and landed a hellish barrage prompting referee Laurence Cole to stop the fight at the 2:06 mark.

The 30-year-old Donaire is now 32W-2L, 21 KOs while the 37-year-old Darchinyan dropped to 39W-6L-1D, 28 KOs.

Donaire said in his tweet that he will have his cheek scanned for any fractures. “Thank you, Lord, for keeping me safe, giving me a sound mind, helping me see what needed to be done,” he said. “I have a lot of work still to do but first I need to get the cheek x-rayed for fracture and rest.”

Also in his post-fight interview, Donaire said that he wants a rematch against Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux , who beat him last April in New York by unanimous decision in their WBO/WBA unification match for the super bantamweight division titles. Donaire was fighting one division higher as a featherweight against Darchinyan. /Inquirer.net with a report from Correspondent Rene Bonsubre, Jr.