Donaire & Verdejo Shine in San Juan

There was a time, not that long ago, when Nonito Donaire may have questioned himself. Those whispers would have filled his head “why are you continuing; why are you doing this to yourself; you need to stop this now.” The former four-division world champion and future hall of famer admits he needed to rekindle the passion for boxing that he once had. “The Filipino Flash” needed to know if that desire to bear through the pain and return to being “Nonito Donaire” was still there.

Donaire (36-3, 23 KOs) may have found his answer Friday night against rugged Mexican Cesar Juarez (17-4, 13 KOs) at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on truTV—winning the vacant WBO super bantamweight title. Donaire won a unanimous decision by scores of 116-110 (2) and 117-109. But the back and forth action, and Donaire’s swollen face, said the fight was actually much closer than the scores indicated.

But the bottom line is Donaire feels as if he was dipped in magic waters. Because he feels reborn in boxing.

“I really needed this,” said the 33-year-old Donaire, who knocked down Juarez twice in the fourth round. “Juarez we knew would be a really, really tough guy. But in the last eight rounds, I couldn’t push too much with my power because I couldn’t sit on my punches. Regardless of whether I was injured or not, I knew it was going to be a tough fight from that point on, because he kept coming and took my punches. It was definitely a tough fight. I stepped on the referee’s foot in the fourth or fifth round and it snapped something in my toes.

“The little joint in the inside of my foot was sprained. I couldn’t use lateral movement, because every time I tried, there was this sting in my left foot. It was a weird step. I can’t make that excuse. Regardless of the injury of not, it was going to be a tough fight. I fought the last half of the fight basically with one foot. I wasn’t able to get that pop, pop, pop on my punches.

“This fight was amazing for me. Knowing how much I push myself regardless of the injury. I feel strong, and no matter what, I wasn’t going to give up. That shows how much dedication I still have. I’m going to keep getting better. I thought my punches were precise. He took my body shots, but I was very fluid. I think this fight gave me the threshold of where I can go. I know a year ago, or three years ago, in that situation, I probably would have given up. There was so much pain. I would have thought, ‘Forget this.’ I kept pushing and I’m going to keep getting better. Nonito Donaire is back. I can say that now.”

The Donaire-Juarez fight, which was on the undercard, far overshadowed the main event, featuring rising young superstar Felix Verdejo (19-0, 14 KOs), who made easy work of Josenilson Dos Santos (27-4, 17), stopping him at 2:21 of the second round. It was third time in his last four fights that Dos Santos lost.

“I feel very good, it was a great fight, I was relaxing in the ring and I knew eventually the end would come,” said Verdejo, who made his first appearance in the ring since hurting his left hand in a victory over Ivan Najera back in June at Madison Square Garden. “I thank God for being able to show I was able to use (left hand) and I did the job. I’m going to see what Top Rank has in store for me in 2016 and see what happens.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.