San Antonio, Texas, February 1, 2012 -

Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire is unfazed by the prediction of former WBO super bantamweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr that he will win by a knockout just like he did when he stopped former WBO super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona in the 4th round to win the title in Puerto Rico challenged Vazquez to "Bring it on."

Donaire, ranked No. 4 in the pound for pound roster of Ring Magazine battles Vazquez Jr, son of the legendary world champion Wilfredo Vazquez Sr at the Alamadome here in San Antonio on Saturday in a Top Rank promotion.

The fight card will be headlined by the WBC middleweight title fight between popular Mexican champion  Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and rugged No.1 ranked Marco Antonio Rubio. The fight card will be telecast by ABS-CBN on its pre-eminent Channel 2 on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. 

Prior to a media workout at the gym of former world champion Jesse James Leija at 1:00 p.m. on a bright, sunny day some 45 minutes before Donaire went through his paces, Vazquez told us "I am at peace, I had good training since October 29, 2011."

Vazquez Jr said "This is a very important fight because Nontio Donaire is a super good fighter and I had to prepare hard." He said he watched a lot of videos of Donaire's fights and noticed that "when you put a lot of pressure on him, he cannot fight. Thats what  I'm going to do and I;m going to knock him out for sure."

Recalling that his father who is his trainer won the world title in San Antonio some 17 years ago against Orlando Canizales, Vazquez Jr said "the only way to win is to train hard and focus on what I have to do." 

Vazquez Jr dismissed reports that he is having a hard time making the weight pulled up his shirt to show his ripped body emphasizing " I feel good and I lost weight intelligently without losing power. I have a strong body and can take a punch but Nonito has a weak, thin body and I can overcome him with my physical strength."      

Vazquez Jr summed it all up saying he feels "very good, calm and composed and content with the condition I attained after five months of very serious training under the close supervision of my father."

Reacting to the bold prediction of Vazquez Jr, Donaire in an interview with the Manila Standard and ABS-CBN's Dyan Castillejo,  said "I'm glad. Its not going to be a boring fight. Its better that he doesn't hide. I like this even more."

Vazquez said that Donaire is unable to handle an aggressive fighter like him who will put the pressure on and force him to back off, to which Donaire responded, "Let him try to test it and find out whether thats a problem I have."

Donaire recalled "If you look at (Vic) Darchinyan or other fighters like (Fernando) Montiel who tried to pressure me, I had no problem backing off or moving forward. I am ready for whatever he does."

Donaire conceded that he is "skinny" and its not the strength of the body as Vazquez claimed but that while the Puerto Rican hits hard, "I punch much harder." 

The three division world champion's parting words for Vazquez was "Bring it on."

Former world champion Jesse James Leija who owns the gym where both fighters worked out said "This fight won't last more than five rounds. Donaire has too much power" which he demonstrated in two rounds on the punch-mitts with former world champion Morris East.

Donaire ripped into the mitts rocking the hands of East with devastating rights and lefts to the delight of a large crowd of media and a gathering of Filipinos who live here.

Donaire entertained the gathering with his imitations of the fighting  styles of Darchinyan, Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and others to the delight of those watching.

Vazquez too looked good in his workout but Donaire was certainly faster and though Vazquez looked ripped and ready "The Filipino Flash" certainly appeared to throw the more vicious punches even as he occasionally switched to a southpaw stance with no trouble at all.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was having dinner here in San Antonio Wednesday night
when he was informed that his close friend and trainer of Muhammad Ali, Angelo Dundee,
had passed away at the age of 90 in Clearwater, Florida following a heart attack.

Arum told the Manila Standard and ABS-CBN after dinner that "It was a painful thing but its
mortality because there will come a day for all of us ."

He said Dundee "lived a great life. Its very, very sad that he's passed away. He was a very good
friend of mine and the reports I get is that he complained about his throat hurting, closed his eyes
and he died. There was no suffering, no drama. He died the way he lived without making waves."

Arum recalled how Dundee saved Muhammad Ali in his first fight against Henry Cooper and  then against Joe Frazier
in the "Thrilla in Manila" and said he was "a great, great cornerman and a great motivator."

In a ten round non-title fight in London's Wembley Stadium in 1963 Cooper dropped Ali in the thread
round with a patented left hook but Dundee sued for time as he showed the referee a rip in Ali's gloves
and when the officials scrambled to bring in another set of gloves Ali had more than enough time to recover
and ultimately cut Cooper so badly the fight was stopped.

In the "Thrilla in Manila" when Ali reportedly wanted to quit after taking a beating in the middle rounds
it was Dundee who ignored him, shoved him on his stool and convinced him to continue and in the end
he forced a badly battered Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch to stop the bout at the end of the 14th round as
Frazier's eye was closed and he couldn't see the right hand of Ali who ripped into him. 

Arum said "the only thing that is sad is that in those days they never had microphones in the corner
so you couldn't hear how brilliant he was. I was close enough to listen to him. If I was a fighter there
is nobody I would want in my corner better than Angelo Dundee."

When heavyweight champion George Foreman made a comeback and "could have had anybody in his
corner because somebody else trained him" , Arum said Foreman " he insisted on hiring Angelo and
 having him work his corner."

The world's leading promoter who was in Manila for the "Thrilla in Manila" with Dundee when Dundee
was the trainer of Ali said his strength was "watching every moment of every round for three minutes
and then communicate and motivate in that one minute. He doesn't waste time." 

We were assigned as the liaison officer for Ali and got to know Dundee quite well. He was a simple,
straight talking, down to earth individual and we were both featured on a recent BBC Radio program
"Live" in which we recalled special moments with Ali in Manila as the BBC paid tribute to Ali on his
70th birthday.

Dundee attended the celebration in Louisville, Kentucky and arrangements had been made by Arum
who has been asked by the Lou Ruvo Clinic to bring in former fighters for the February 18 event at the
MGM Grand. Dundee had agreed but unfortunately he won't make it.

Undefeated heavyweight Rocky Marciano battled ageless Archie Moore for the New York State Athletic Commission world heavyweight title at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York on September 21, 1955.

The Marciano-Moore fight will be featured on the increasingly popular “Super Fights” telecast on December 31 at 9:00 p.m. over AKTV IBC 13 where the action is.;

Moore stunned the hard-hitting Marciano by dropping him in the second round but Marciano quickl;y got up at the count of two and then battered Moore the rest of the fight dropping the gallant Moore five times en route to a 9^th round of a scheduled 15 round bout.

Referee Harry  Kessler counted Moore out at 1:19 of round nine.

At the time of the stoppage Marciano was clearly ahead on the scorecards of all three judges.

The referee who was also a scoring judge had Marciano winning 5 rounds to 2 while judge Harold Barnes had Marciano ahead 5-3.

Artie Aidala had Marciano way ahead by 7 rounds to 1 as in those days fights were scored by rounds and not on points as they are today.

Marciano weighed 188 ¼ pounds while Moore came in at 188.

Marciano ended his career with an unblemished record of 49-0 while Moore whenhe entered the ring was announced as having a record of 120-19-5.

Murray Rose of the Associated Press in a story on the fight said

Former two division world champion Gerry Penalosa says the reported $50,000 purse for the planned March bout between his protégé Michael Farenas and undefeated Mikey Garcia had nothing to do with his getting upset over the replacement of Farenas by Bernabe Concepcion and insisted Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser was responsible.

Koncz earlier denied Penalosa’s claim and said it was Garcia’s manager Cameron Dunkin who turned down the fight alleging that Farenas head-butts and he didn’t want to risk the fight.

The widely ready internet site boxingscene.com emailed us to state “Koncz is not lying here. Dunkin was not pleased with the selection of Farenas due to his head use.”

But Penalosa vehemently denied the report that Farenas head-butts his opponents and said it was Farenas who suffered from being head-butted in past fights. He  alleged that Koncz who handles MP Promotions under whose aegis all Filipino boxers fight on Top Rank cards sidelined Farenas so that Concepcion whom they handle gets the chance and they get a bigger percentage of the purse.

Penalosa told us he had cancelled a scheduled February 28 fight because of the chance to fight Garcia the current NABF and WBO/NABO featherweight champion and believes  they were scared to fight Farenas because he could beat Garcia.

Penalosa stressed that he is not interested in the money but only wanted his fighter to be given an opportunity to earn a crack at the world title by beating Garcia.

Considered one of the finest boxers produced by the Philippines, Penalosa told us he is in boxing for the love of the sport and in order to help promising young fighters, not to exploit them and that is why he continues to promote fights as he did last Saturday in Caloocan City.

Koncz said “I don’t know why Gerry is mad at me. You can personally check with Cameron Dunkin and the Top Rank matchmakers when you are in San Antonio for the Nonito Donaire fight and they will tell you why the fight didn’t push through.”

Koncz even claimed that when Dunkin first turned down Farenas he had asked the Top Rank matchmakers to talk to him again but it didn’t work out.

Francisco “Django” Bustamante, the World 9-Ball Champion who was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame has added the 2012 Derby City Classic Fatboy 10-Ball Challenge held at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel in Elizabeth, Indiana, to his list of triumphs.

Bustamante, who together with bosom buddy Efren Reyes forms the one-two punch of pool patron Aristeo “Putch” Puyat of Puat Sports easily defeated Steve Moore of the US winning by a lopsided 15-5 margin. a, USA,” he said.

Bustamante raced to an early  2-0 lead but a scratch omn the ten-ball in the third rack enabled Moore to claw back and tie the count at 2-2.

From a 4-3 lead Bustamante played near flawless pool to rattle of nine straight racks for a unassailable 13-3 lead and with the score at 14-5 Moore scratched on the break giving Bustamante ball-in-hand and with the table laid out perfectly Moore decided to concede and threw in the towel. the 20th rack.

Bustamante overcame 2012 Derby City Classic Bank Division champion John Morra of Canada, 15-5, in the semi-final round to arrange the finals showdown with Moore who battled his way into the finals by defeating another Filipino, former world and US Open champion  Alex Pagulayan  15-12.

For his win Bustamante pocketed  the top prize of US$ 12,000 while Moore won the runner-up prize of US$ 7,000. Pagulayan and Morra earned $ 3,500 each for reaching the final four.

DUMAGUETE CITY – Seventeen-year-old James Palicte displayed the form that once made him a member of the national pool to shut down a wild local crowd cheering for Jonathan Ramirez and cap Bago City’s dominating performance at the close of the  PLDT-ABAP Visayas Area Boxing Championships Sunday at the Robinson’s Mall.

A total of ten finals bouts were disputed, including one in the girls division, with the champions receiving medals and cash prize of P1,000.

City Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria joined ABAP executive director Ed Picson, ASBC Women’s Commission member Ma. Karina Picson and Carlos Leviste of SMART Sports in the awarding ceremony.

“We’re happy with the results of the tournament and we have spotted a number of boxers whom we will invite for the National Finals in Tagbilaran City from March 4 to 7,” said Picson.

Palicte leaned on his counter-punching style to negate an aggressive Ramirez for a 12-7 points victory to claim the gold medal in the Youth Boys lightweight division.

“Malakas pero kaya ko siya. Ang naging problema ko lamang ay kulang pa ako sa endurance,” said Palicte, who was with the national pool from 2009-10 but quit when he got homesick.

“Kinukuha nila uli ako at ngayon ay desidido akong maglaro sa national team. Mas may edad na ako ngayon at kaya ng mabuhay ng malayo sa pamilya,” added Palicte, a national champion in the 2008 and 2009 editions held in Palawan and Cagayan de Oro City.

The victory was Bago City’s third gold medal to go with two silvers and a bronze medal to claim the overall championship in this four-day tournament organized by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) with PLDT as its main sponsor in cooperation with the City and Provincial government.

Youth pinweight Raymart Flores and junior light flyweight Andrian dela Cruz were the other winners for Bago City to steal the title away from former champion Mandaue City who settled for second place with two gold, a silver and three bronze medals.

“Magagaling ang mga boksingerong dala namin kaya nanalo kami. May sapat pang panahon para makapaghanda sa National Finals at sana ay madala namin ang panalong ito sa March,” said delegation coach  Reynaldo Balboa.

Youth light flyweight Rolan Servania and bantamweight Kevin Jake Cataraja carried the fight for Mandaue who still earned the bragging rights as the delegation with the most medals won in this tournament.

National Finals host Tagbilaran City won two gold medals led by Jessel Mark Araula who registered the most impressive win in the final day of action.

Araula pounded Mardie Naunan of Mandaue with solid left hooks resulting to back to back standing eight counts for an RSC  victory with 2:42 in the first round.

Cebu City won two gold medals while Negros Occidental claimed the final gold courtesy of lady boxer Jossa Santiseban who ruled the Junior girls pinweight with an RSC win in the third round over Leyte’s Aira Villegas.

Former Olympians and now national coaches Romer Brin and Elias Recaido acted as scouts tio determine potential boxers to compete with selected boxers from the NCR-Luzon and Mindanao Area Tournaments this March.

HBO Sports boxing producer Jon Crystal is seeking permission to use some new technology on the non-televised undercards of the blockbuster Top Rank promotion at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas  on February 4.

Crystal said he had made the request to the Texas Commission who asked HBO Sports to seek WBC approval.

In his communication with the WBC, the producer said “ For the past 3 years we have been working on wrist based sensor devices that would allow us to measure in real time the speed and force of punches thrown.  To date, the sensors have been approved and used in Nevada, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Foxwoods and Washington, D.C. on close to 40 different professional bouts.  In addition, 6 other commissions have indicated their support going forward.”

He indicated that they have “Worked with the 2/4 event promoter, Top Rank Inc., with regularity on our “Punch Force” testing and if approved would work closely with them and the local Commission to ensure that everyone was comfortable with the process and the bouts we’d test on.”

In his request to the WBC, the HBO Sports producer said “The unit itself is 1” x 1” and is applied to the inside of the wrist, on top of the commission approved wraps and protected by the padding in the wrist of the glove.  The unit weighs 0.2 ounces.  In addition to the 60 plus professional fighters who have worn these in sanctioned bouts, we’ve tested on hundreds of fighters at various gyms and amateur events and have yet to have anyone who was even aware they were wearing them.”

Crystal added, “ We believe we are on the verge of a very exciting technological breakthrough that could create much interest and entertainment for boxing fans and would greatly appreciate your support in approving us for testing on the upcoming event. ”

WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman and executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman have asked WBC officials and others for their views on the proposal and will respond shortly even as Mauricio noted that the “Texas Commission was very respectful to the WBC and asked HBO to get WBC approval in order for them to use this system which is a very nice gesture by Texas.”

Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz of MP Promotions denies responsibility for replacing Gerry Penalosa’s protégé  Michael “Hammer Fist” Farenas with former two-time featherweight title challenger Bernabe Concepcion in a scheduled fight against undefeated  North American Boxing Federation and WBO North American Boxing Organization featherweight champion Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia  at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 10.

The main event features a title rematch between WBO champion Orlando Salido of Mexico and Puerto Rico’s former champion from whom Salido won the title, Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez. Salido won the title in a stunning 8^th round TKO last April 16, 2011.

Although Penalosa doesn’t believe Koncz’s claim the Pacquiao adviser told the Manila Standard that Garcia’s manager Cameron Dunking refused to accept the fight because Farenas was allegedly known to use his head and Dunkin didn’t want to risk Garcia getting cut.

Penalosa was upset because he had called off a scheduled Februarey 28 fight for Farenas to accept the Garcia fight for which his fighter had been promised a $50,000 purse.

The 24 year old Concepcion has a record of 29-5-1 with 15 knockouts and twice fought for the WBO featherweight title but lost.

He was disqualified in a fight against Steve Luevano when he hit him after the bell had sounded at the end of round 7 with Luevano acting so he could convince referee Jay Nady to disqualify Concepcion which he did on August 15, 2009.

He then fought Juan Manuel “Juanma” Marquez who had won the title from Luevano but after dropping Marquez at the end of round one was himself dropped in round two and lost by a TKO.

Mikey Garcia  is coming off back-to-back stoppages winning the NABF/WBO NABO titles via a 4^thround knockout of Rafael Guzman at the Staples Center on June 4, 2011 before winning by a 4^thround TKO over Juan Carlos Martinez at the Theater of Madison Square Garden on October 22, 2011.

Mikey is the brother of former world champion Robert Garcia who is the trainer of Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire who faces former champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in San Antonio on February 4 for the vacant WBO super bantamweight title.

The Philippines Jhunriel Ramonal was knocked out by WBC silver lightweight champion Alejandro Sanabria in the 4^th round of Sanabria’s first title defense in Chihuahua, Mexico, yesterday.

Referee Rocky Burke counted out the hapless Filipino after he was dropped in the round by the bigger and stronger Mexican at 2:`15 of the round.

The Manila Standard had earlier raised the issue of a mismatch with Games and Amusements Board commissioner Aquil Tamano pointing out that Ramonal was a super bantamweight and Sanabria a lightweight . The weight difference was evident even at the official weigh-in when Ramonal came in at 131 pounds while Sanabria weighed the 135 limit with the real possibility of stretching the difference by fight time.

Sanabria won the vacant Silver title with a 5^th round knockout of the expetienced  Vinvin Rufino (30-14-3, 14 KO’s) last December 3, 2011 . Earlier on he wonnthe vacant WBC Continental Americas super featherweight title with a twelve round decision over tough Rocky Juarez a perennial world title challenger.

Ramonal won the Philippine super bantamweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Rnel Suco on September 16, 2011 after dropping a split decision in an battle for the vacant Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation title against Hiromasa Ohashi of Japan on March 27 last year.

We  raised  our concern over the Sanabria-Ramonal title fight with the Philippine Games and Amusements Board  considering the difference in both the fighters records, quality of opponents and experience as well as the fact that Ramonal, a super bantamweight will be moving up two weight divisions to fight Sanabria, an accomplished  world-rated lightweight while Ramonal is not rated at all by the WBC.

Commissioner Tamano told us the “problem is Ramonal is the current Philippine bantamweight champion  and in his last fight in Japan he lost by split  decision in an OPBF title fight. “

Tamano conceded the weight difference is a serious issue.