Manila, Philippines – IBF and IBO flyweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire outclassed the game but outgunned Mexican-American Raul “Cobrita” Martinez, stopping the latter in four rounds as Hawaiian-based Filipino Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria knocked out Mexican Ulises “Archi” Solis in the 11th round to wrest the IBF light flyweight title from Solis in an exciting fight card at the Araneta Coliseum, Sunday, April 19, 2009 Philippine time.
Viloria’s power showed at the outset as he repeatedly tagged Solis with one-two combinations in the opening round. In the fifth round, a string of Viloria punches opened a cut on Solis’ brow. In the sixth, Solis, sensing some urgency, showed some power of his own, landing some hard body shots and a few head blows that seemed to hurt Viloria. In the eighth round, The Hawaiian punch unleashed several body shots of his own and managed to connect a few uppercuts on Solis, who appeared to be slowing down.
The 10th round was all Viloria, as the Filipino landed combination after combination, pinning Solis several times against the ropes. The end came for Solis in the 11th round courtesy of a Viloria right straight that landed flush on the Mexican’s jaw. Solis crumpled to the canvas and referee Bruce Mctavish counted him out. It was the sixth straight win for Viloria after his last loss to Edgar Sosa in 2007. Viloria lost his WBC light flyweight crown to Omar Niño Romero three years ago. Solis had successfully defended his title eight times, stopping three Filipinos (Rodel Mayol, Bert Batawang, and Glenn Donaire) in the process before being stopped by Viloria. It was the first time Solis had been knocked out in his career.
In the main event, Donaire showed he was the superior fighter in terms of technique and power, knocking down the undefeated Martinez two times in the first round. In the second, a Donaire left hook floored Martinez again but Cobrita managed to beat the count.
It was only a matter of time, however, as a left uppercut from Donaire put Martinez down again in the fourth round, prompting the referee to stop the fight.
The fight might prove to be the last for Donaire in the flyweight division as he is planning to move up in weight to challenge interim WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel. It was Donaire’s third successful defense of his titles, with TKO wins over Luis Maldonado and Moruti Mthalane. Donaire won his belts by knocking out brash Australian-based Armenian Vic Darchinyan two years ago.
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