By Dave Lahr: I don’t want to take anything away from the career of Manny Pacquiao, especially with him on the verge of fighting toughest bout of his career against Ricky Hatton on May 2nd, but I think that IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire (21-1, 14 KOs) has a good chance of becoming an even bigger star than Pacquiao. Donaire, 26, who already holds a 5th round knockout over arguably the best super flyweight in boxing in Vic Darchinyan, destroyed Raul Martinez (24-1, 14 KOs) in the 4th round on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Raul Martinez
Viloria Stops Solis, Donaire Destroys Martinez – Boxing Results
By Manuel Perez: I’m frankly speechless after former WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria (25-2, 15 KOs) pulled off a huge upset by stopping International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight champion Ulises Soils (28-2-2, 20 KOs) in the 11th round tonight at the Araneta Coliseum, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Donaire vs. Martinez, Solis vs. Viloria on Sunday
By Manuel Perez: Former WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria (24-2, 14 KOs) has a tough task ahead of him this Sunday in challenging IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis (28-1-2, 20 KOs) at the
Araneta Coliseum, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Martinez Stops Proa In 1st Round – Latest Boxing News
By Manuel Perez: In a battle of unbeaten super flyweight contenders, Raul Martinez (24-0, 14 KOs) stopped Victor Proa (26-1-2, 19 KOs) in the 1st round of a scheduled 12-round bout at the New Alhambra, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Martinez, 26, caught Proa on the ropes early on and unloaded a blinding flurry of shots, hurting him badly twice and causing him to sag in between the ropes, helpless. The fight was then stopped by the referee at 1:08 of the first round with Proa standing but very hurt.
Martinez Decisions Garcia
By Manuel Perez: Undefeated super flyweight contender Raul Martinez (22-0, 13 KOs) won a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision over Benjamin Garcia (12-10-3, 13 KOs) to win the International Boxing Association bantamweight title at the Municipal Auditorium, in Harlingen, Texas. Garcia was knocked down twice in the third round and once in the fifth. The final judges’ scores were 100-87, 99-88 and 98-89. The fight was never really competitive at all, as Martinez was able to control the bout with his jab alone.
Martinez Decisions Alex Baba
Undefeated bantamweight contender Raul Martinez (21-0, 13 KOs) continued with his success, winning a grueling eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman fighter Alex Baba (26-12-1, 19 KOs) on Friday night at the Jacob Brown Auditorium, in Brownsville, Texas. Martinez, ranked #9th in the World Boxing Organization & World Boxing Association bantamweight division, had a little too much skill and youth for the 37 year-old Baba, though the fight ended up being perhaps more difficult than Martinez, 25, perhaps imagined going in. Martinez led through the opening rounds, but Baba, a fighter that never stops punching, seemed to wear Martinez down over the last four rounds, and made the fight competitive.
The final judges’ scores were 79-73, 78-74 and 78-74. However, I had the fight scored as a draw, as Baba seemed to give Martinez a lot of problems with his constant pressure, and seemed to be wearing him out near the end of the fight. In fact, Martinez, who generally comes forward all the time, started back up in the last two rounds of the fight, using mostly his jab to try and keep Baba off of him. It didn’t work, but it looked impressive, as Martinez threw double and triple jabs over and over again.