The Filipino Flash remains defiant.
Nonito Donaire’s bid to become the oldest bantamweight champion in boxing history at 40 years old was derailed by Mexican pug Alexandro Santiago on the undercard of Errol Spence Jr. versus Terrence Crawford. The Filipino Flash used to lay waste on opponents smaller than him but was simply outgunned by Santiago, who was five inches shorter. As a result, the judges awarded the diminutive but younger fighter a well-deserved unanimous decision victory with scores of 116-112 (2x) and 115-113 on Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Considering Donaire’s age and the mileage in his battle-ridden body, the outcome wasn’t that surprising at all. After the match, calls for the Filipino boxing legend’s retirement have begun to emerge.
Boxing fan @HEARTOFGOLD2 agrees with the Michael Benson of talkSPORT.com that Nonito is indeed a hall-of-famer but also believes that it’s time for the nine-time champ to hang up his gloves.
“No Doubt. But he needs to let go at the right time,” he tweeted.
Twitter user @AlfonsoDatu was more straightforward when he asked his boxing idol to call it quits.
“Retire na lodicakes my pookie bear,” he posted.
Netizen FCML shared the same sentiment.
“Legend. But time to retire,” wrote @rfsy3.
Donaire, however appears defiant. In fact, it sounds like retirement is still far from his mind based on his postfight interview with Showtime Sports’ Jim Gray.
“I will continue because I love the sport so much," Donaire said.
"But the thing I told my wife, and who has the word whether I have it or not and stuff like that. So, we just got to go back to the locker room and talk about it and see where we go from there, he added.
Unlike ring observers, the left-hook specialist didn’t see Father Time affecting his performance even while admitting that he had trouble unleashing his haymakers.
“I felt good, there were some things that just didn't trigger. I didn't pull the trigger, and that was my biggest problem," Donaire explained.
When asked whether his age had something to do with it, the response was decisive.
I say hell no to that,” Donaire protested.
The result, though, seems to say otherwise.
(MDB)