Donaire overtakes Martinez in P4P ranking

Donaire overtakes Martinez in P4P ranking

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 02/22/2011 3:14 PM | Updated as of 02/22/2011 6:54 PM


MANILA, Philippines – Following his sensational 2nd-round knockout victory over Mexican superstar Fernando Montiel, Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire is now ranked among the world’s best just behind fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao and undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.

According to latest rankings issued by The Ring magazine, the "bible of boxing", Donaire has overtaken middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina and world lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez to become the Top 3 pound-for-pound best.

Pacquiao is the reigning pound-for-pound king at No. 1 followed by Mayweather, who is ranked No. 2.

Donaire’s climb in ranking relegated Martinez to No. 4 and Marquez to No. 5. The Filipino Flash used to occupy the No. 5 spot.

“The decision was made even more difficult because both Martinez and Marquez have recently defended their titles via knockout against top-notch challengers. In the end, however, it was impossible to ignore Donaire’s overpowering performances in his last 10 fights, nine of which he won via knockout or TKO. The ‘Filipino Flash’ is on a helluva roll, one that could conceivably see him climb even higher in future months,” said Nigel Collins, Editor-in-Chief of The Ring magazine.

Included in Donaire's 25-win streak are knockout victories over Vladimir Sidorenko, Hernan Marquez, Raul Martinez and trash-talking Vic Darchinyan. He currently holds a pro record of 26 wins and 1 loss with 18 knockouts.

Aside from nabbing the pound-for-pound list’s Top 3, Donaire also replaced Montiel as the magazine’s No. 1 bantamweight boxer.

From No. 1, Montiel went down to No. 5.

The Filipino Flash scored an outstanding victory over the Mexican champion by scoring a 2nd-round technical knockout.

Donaire stunned Montiel with a looping left hook to the face that sent the Mexican crashing down the canvass with a minute left in the second round.

The dazed Montiel tried to get up but fell again.

When he got up, the referee gave him another chance to exchange with Donaire.

But the Filipino boxer quickly fired a finisher against the defenseless Montiel, prompting the referee to stop the fight.

With the win, Donaire wrested the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titles from Montiel.

The Filipino may opt to fight the winner between bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares to become the first Asian undisputed world champion.

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