Donaire’s happy problem

WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr.’s emphatic TKO win over Jorge Arce now creates a happy problem for the Filipino Flash. Who will he fight next? More precisely, who will want to fight him?

In the first round of the fight with Jorge Arce, he established control early, turning Arce counterclockwise, and keeping him at bay with the jab. Arce followed, but couldn’t calculate the proper distance to launch his combinations. Donaire, for his part, simply speared the jab, moved when it suited him, and charged in at will, confusing his opponent.

The end was signaled early for Arce. Donaire ducked a forced attack late in the second round and hammered the challenger. Arce wobbled and his glove touched the canvas. Despite his ministrations to the contrary, it took him a while to shake off the effects of the one-punch explosion, as he was slow getting up. Donaire, however, didn’t force the issue. He waited for the right opening. He didn’t have long to wait.

The third round started with some roughhousing by Arce. Both fighters tumbled to the canvas, but Donaire was unfazed. Arce started to pull out the dirty tricks and hold. With under a minute to go, Donaire bobbed under another assault, then staggered his opponent with an overhand right. He followed this up with some glancing blows and a left uppercut, but the damage had been done. Arce insisted he was okay, but it was obvious the end was fast approaching.

Moments later, the opportunity presented itself. Donaire launched a left hook that found the mark, and the head-shot caused Arce’s feet to go out from under him. He was not getting up this time, and was counted out with a second to go in the third round.

The fight put to rest any doubts about the bleeding rupture on Donaire’s hand from the Nishioka fight just weeks ago. It also displayed the impressive equal power in both of the champion’s fists. The double-barreled threat is now a feared weapon for the Filipino, and will make it difficult for him to find a next opponent.

But the most substantial tools in Donaire’s arsenal were his patience and ringmanship. Starting with the latter, he used the entire ring, leading Arce around, and using his jab to control the distance between the two of them. Donaire would also crowd Arce, which the contender was not comfortable with. Donaire would turn Arce, prod him with the jab, and control with the tempo and direction of the fight.

Donaire, who was clearly more agile, stuck with the plan. He didn’t launch any wild, reckless attacks the way he used to just two or three years ago. He stuck to the jab, moved, and maintained control. Even when he got the knockdown in the second round, he maintained a safe distance, not charging in to finish the fight. He knew he had the advantage. He was lying in wait for Arce to make a mistake.

The WBO champ said he will now take a well-deserved rest for the holidays, and decide not just who to fight next, but at which weight, which would probably be the easier decision. Given the devastating victory, there are more factors to consider than just the willingness of the next opponent. Who would be able to give Donaire a compelling fight, and challenge him with equal skill and toughness? What would the fans want to see?

Two decades ago, Mike Tyson swept through the heavyweight class like a storm, flooring bigger, stronger, more experienced opponents. Save for a freak loss to Buster Douglas in Japan, Tyson seemed untouchable. It came to a point that nobody wanted to fight him because they wouldn’t last two rounds, and the money was not worth the savage beating they were going to get.

At almost the same time, Sugar Ray Leonard was running the table in different weight classes after winning an Olympic gold medal with a broken hand. He inexorably moved up in weight, even stretching so far as the light heavyweight class in a ridiculous match with one-armed blonde bomber Donnie Lalonde. Lalonde had had his shoulder practically stapled together through surgery, and was considered easy pickings.

Leonard marketed himself well, and had several landmark wins. He made Roberto Duran quit in the infamous “No Mas” fight (also remembered for his fake “windmill” punch that fooled Duran). He knocked out the 6’1” Tommy Hearns in short, bloody fashion, and dealt “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler his first loss in seven years. If not for the ravages of time and a detached retina, Leonard would have probably annexed a couple of other titles, making him the record-holder that Manny Pacquiao would chase.

Donaire may be approaching that level. What would make a marketable fight for him in 2013? His stock has certainly risen, more so when juxtaposed against the embarrassing (but non-title) knockout loss of Pacquiao to Juan Manuel Marquez just a week before. Will Donaire have the difficulty of finding a suitable opponent? He has always loved a challenge, and wouldn’t want to settle for a patsy just to stay in the news. He has been a worthy champion who never backed down from anyone. The question is if the same can be said of everyone else in his weight class.