Proving Something

"In my opinion, Nonito Donaire is number two, pound for pound in the world, after Manny Pacquiao."

With all due respect for Roy Jones Jr's opinion, Nonito Donaire has a long way to go to prove that he really is in the top two or three on the p4p list. What he has proven, without a doubt, is that he belongs on the list somewhere.

Prior to his fight with Fernando Montiel on HBO's Boxing After Dark Saturday night, I didn't know if Donaire had really earned his p4p berth or not. He had several good wins and a spectacular knock out of rugged, awkward, and over-rated knockout artist Vic Darchinyan. Montiel brought the stronger resume into the fight. A Montiel win would prove that he belonged on the list instead of Donaire.

Both fighters started tight and disciplined in round one. Montiel tried to get his jab going while Donaire landed the most significant punches of the round. It was clear that Montiel was trying to loosen up and apply more pressure in round two. He appeared to be staking his claim to the round but it was soon apparent that Donaire was timing him. The Filipino Flash slipped a right hand and countered with a brutal left hook that divorced the Mexican bantamweight champion from his senses.

Montiel somehow got back to his feet before the count of ten and referee Russell Mora allowed him to try to continue, but a left right combo from Donaire scared Mora out of that idea completely. He waved the fight off immediately. Montiel did not argue or complain and needed help back to his corner. He was immediately taken from the ring to make sure no permanent damage was done.

I did not think it out of line to call Montiel the division's champion coming into this fight. I think it impossible not to call Donaire the division's champion coming out of it. The best fight to be made in the bantamweight division is now Donaire and the winner of Agbeko-Mares for absolute bragging rights. That fight is a lot more necessary to boxing than Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Nonito Donaire was not the only fighter on the card with something to prove. Mike Jones desperately needed to show us he could bounce back from his mistakes in his controversial decision win over Jesus Soto-Karass. Soto-Karass needed to prove that he could indisputably earn the rematch win. While the Mexican brawler did prove his heart, chin, and courage it was Jones who proved that he was the genuine welterweight contender.

The first round of their rematch started slow. Soto-Karass immediately failed to do more than stalk Jones without applying the necessary pressure to take the welterweight prospect out of his game plan. The Philadelphia boxer-puncher stayed tight and disciplined. In the second round he got his jab on track and began to control the timing and distance of the exchanges. An early clash of heads in round three opened a cut on Soto-Karass's left eye. Referee Kenny Bayless called a time out to let the doctor check the cut but the fight soon continued. The Mexican, looking to draw Jones into the kind of brawl that favord Soto-Karass in the first fight, abandoned defese to taunt his opponent. Rather than be drawn into fighting the Mexican's fight, Jones stayed cool and patient and landed telling body punches while opening a second cut (this one on Soto-Karass's right eye) with crisp combination punching. In addition to shredding his opponent's face, Jones also hurt Soto-Karass with telling body shots.

Kenny Bayless either missed the earlier clash of heads or considered the fact that Jones had inflicted the second cut with a punch superseded the accidental butt. Soto-Karass's corner was quite upset by this decision but Bayless refused to be swayed. Bayless's decision served to fire the Mexican's fighting heart. Soto-Karass came out hard in round four and applied pressure effectively enough to produce his best round of the fight. Any change in momentum was only temporary as Mike Jones dominated the middle rounds with a crisp double jab, heavy body shots, and sharp combination punching.

The climax of the fight was the ninth round. Knowing that he was far behind, Soto-Karass again abandoned defense in his efforts to provoke a brawl by taunting Jones and throwing punches. His inability to effectively cut off the ring or to slow Jones' counters meant that the Mexican took more punishment in the ninth than in any round since the third. Yet his game refusal stop coming forward and his busy punch output allowed him to will his way back into the fight and made it very difficult not to reward him with the round. Unfortunately, that was all Soto-Karass had left. The continued inability to apply enough pressure to take Jones out of his game plan allowed the Philly prospect to hold off the Mexican and win every one of the last three rounds just by keeping his head. Both men were sloppy in the championship rounds. Jones was clearly tired and Soto-Karass clearly hurt, giving us a sloppy and entertaining finish, but Jones was the clear winner.

Jones well-deserved decision win was unanimous. Duane Ford scored the fight a surprisingly close 114-112, Robert Hoyle scored it 116-112, and Ricardo Ocasio scored it 117-111. The Boxing Geek scored the fight 118-111 for Jones off HBO.

The only complaint about the night was the HBO broadcast team's attempts to work a little too hard to impose their own narrative of the cuts. Yes, Kenny Bayless missed a clear clash of heads that definitely caused a cut on the left eye. The HBO team also declared the second cut to be opened by a head butt even as their own replay showed a series of punches doing the job. I agree with Max Kellerman that boxing should make more use of instant replay in these cases, but in this case both sides were right. Bayless missed the head-clash because he did not have replay at his disposal, but Bob Papa and Max Kellerman mistakenly ascribed the second cut to a second butt despite the evidence of their replay.

Fortunately, the fight was not stopped due to cuts and controversy due to either party's mistakes was avoided.

Donaire is the big winner of the night but Jones and Soto-Karass stole the show with their bloody fight. More importantly, Jones showed an ability to learn from the adversity of the first fight. Though the fight never stopped being entertaining, Jones was never in danger of losing. I think it's time to stop calling him a prospect. He's ready to take the next step in his career and fight his fellow welterweight contenders.