The Little Cobra is too small for the Filipino Flash

by Ric Pinca, April 19, 2009 (Manila)
www.Fil-AmBoxers.com

Nonito Donaire shown during a workout in Las Vegas
prior to his fight withSouth African Mthalame on
Nov. 1, 2008.  Photo by Rod Mijares

When Raul "La Cobrita" Martinez came marching into the cavenous Araneta Coliseum, I thought Nonito " The Filipino Flash" Donaire Jr. was in for a tough fight.  Martinez looked tough.  His left arm was wrapped in tattoos  and his muscles were bulging. He looks menacing.

The Mexican also has the face of a fighter.  He actually looks like a bantam version of Vin Diesel. And like Vin Diesel, Martinez is also bald.  He came in with solid credentials and was undefeated  in 24 fights.  His fight monicker  "La Cobrita" or "Little Cobra" seems frightening that describes his fighting style, that of a cobra lurking in the dark.  Martinez is a kind of sneaky little devil, if I may say.  He lulls his opponents making them think he is weak.  Then suddenly, he springs out with lethal left and right combinations and his opponents end up in dreamland not knowing what hit them.

But today, April 19, in Manila, it was "La Cobrita" who got the surprise of his life.  Donaire, slim and sort of lanky Filipino suddenly unleased a stinging right to Martinez face, hitting him right on the nose, and the Cobrita coiled-up, his knees buckled and he fell flat on his back, right in the first round.  But like the "Cobrita" that he is, Martinez was quickly back on his feet and was back fighting for dear life.

Donaire is the exact opposite.  He looks like a college boy out for a degree in maybe accounting or engineering or perhaps law.  He doesn't look like a fighter at all.  Yes, he has muscles but they do not bulge out.  Without his gloves, he doesn't look like a boxer at all.  But beneath that exterior is a relentess executioner.  And it shows in his eyes - they stare straight into you.  No, he stares through you.  His are eyes that focus on destroying what lies on his way to greatness.  Yes, this guy from Bohol is out to prove that his championship belts are not  fluke.  That he is destined for greatness.  And that his boxing career will not be a flash in the pan, but a flash for all time.

And so in defending his titles, the IBF/IBO Flyweight championship belts, Donaire made sure that the world knew his time has already come.  He was precise and calculating.  He measured his opponent's every move, blocking La Cobrita's path, jabbing before his opponent could come in and unleashing his right when La Cobrita exposed his head and more often than not, he connected.

Martinez, went down two more times in the second round.  The poor Mexican did not know where to go. A lethal left hook awaited him if he turned to his right; Donaire's thunderous right waited in ambush should La Cobrita go to his left.  But true to the cobra's spirit, Martinez came springing up after every knockdown.  He still wanted to fight.

But the partisan crowd is unforgiving.  "Ang cobra naging bulate" (The cobra became an earthworm) was what i heard from behind me.  It was a group of Cebuano's watching and they, obviously, were rooting for their Boholano kin.

In the end, they were right. A solid right to the head hurled the Mexican to the canvas and the referee, sensing carnage, stopped the fight without even bothering to count.  To him, the Cobrita has had enough punishment.  He was a game fighter but his fight was not enough.   Donaire retained his world flyweight championship titles in style before a boisterous and proud Filipino crowd. The Little Cobra is obviously not big enough to dim the Filipino Flash who is on his way to greatness, possibly, the next Manny Pacquiao in the making.  Another Filipino world champion the Philippines is so proud of.

In the other co-main event of "The Fast and the Furious," another Filipino-American former WBC champion Brian "Hawiian Punch" Viloria sweetened the Filipino celebration by knocking-out the defending IBF Light Flyweight champion Ulises "Filipino Assasin" Solis in the 11th round.

The Fast and the Furius is promoted by Solar Sports, a Filipino owned sports channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation  and Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions of Las Vegas, Nevada.