Donaire Retains WBC and WBO Bantamweight Titles

Donaire Retains WBC and WBO Bantamweight Titles

Pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire pounded out a convincing twelve round unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Omar Narvaez moments ago at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City as seen live on HBO. While it was a dominating performance from start to finish,

Donaire just couldn’t find a way to hurt Narvaez who did nothing but shell up looking to survive. After a slow feeling-out process in the opening stanza the fight fell into a rhythm of Narvaez cautiously moving with Donaire seeking a way to attack through his guard.

The ‘Filipino Flash’ opened up in the fourth landing an array of fast and powerful punches but his opponent used a lot of savvy to cover up and survive. In the middle rounds and down the stretch Donaire continued to attack while Narvaez continued to shell up offering no resistance in the offense department.

After twelve easy albeit unexciting rounds were complete Donaire was ahead by shutout scores of 120-108 on all three cards to retain his 118-pound crown. Donaire, who will now move up in weight to seek out bigger fights, commented post fight: “Now I know how Manny Pacquiao felt when he fought Joshua Clottey.”

After judges awarded Donaire the first three rounds, he began to get into a groove in the fourth. Late in the round, Donaire began landing more punches and he had Narvaez against the ropes with a strong combination but that did lead to victory.

Narvaez was able to stay with him by using a defensive strategy most of the fight. He frequently kept his hands clenched near his head to avoid many strong punches and appeared content to let the bout go the distance.

Narvaez’s technical approach had some in the crowd booing at times but they cheered wildly when Donaire began landing some uppercuts late in the 10th. The booing returned in the 11th as Donaire rarely landed any punches until the final seconds of the round.

In the 12th round, Donaire landed a strong combination but could not finish. Narvaez briefly had him against the ropes but Donaire escaped though in the final seconds he flailed against the ropes.

Donaire Retains WBC and WBO Bantamweight Titles