Donaire Disappointed After Dominating Narvaez

by Gautham Nagesh

NEW YORK, N.Y.–They say it takes two to make a great fight in boxing but the men inside the ring are not always solely at fault when a bout turns out to be a dog. Top-ranked super flyweight Omar Narvaez of Argentina has been justifiably castigated after spending 12 rounds covering up and defending against bantamweight king Nonito Donaire at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Narvaez showed more interest in surviving than winning, reducing the Filipino Flash to a blinking yellow and frustrating the vocal crowd of 4,425 in the Theater while losing every round.

But equal responsibility should be assigned to the matchmakers at Top Rank and HBO, which have established a pattern of matching their marquee fighters against the softest possible opposition at every opportunity. From the outset it was obvious Donaire was significantly larger, faster and more powerful than his over-matched foe. Such mismatches will do little to advance his career and last night was arguably a setback for his box office appeal apart from his countrymen and serious fight fans.

Doubtless the crowd, which began chanting “this is bullshit” in the championship rounds, wanted Narvaez to throw caution to the wind, rush in headfirst and wind up splayed on the canvas. And perhaps that was his duty as a champion; England’s Darren Barker recently accepted his fate and opened up late against middleweight champ Sergio Martinez even though he must have known a KO was the likely result.

But Narvaez was 36 years old, far from his homeland and fighting a phenom that belongs three divisions above his natural weight. While his effort won’t win him any admirers or even second fight in the U.S., it is at the least understandable. His American debut will go down as a stinker but surely the brain cells he saved by avoiding Donaire’s vicious left hook will comfort him in retirement.

Donaire on the other hand was expected to put on a show for the heavily Filipino crowd and was understandably frustrated at his opponent’s reluctance, telling his corner at one point that he was bored. But his insistence on swinging for the fences with every punch instead of changing tactics and attacking the body contributed heavily to the lack of fireworks.

While Narvaez lacked the firepower to seriously challenge Nonito, he had more than enough defensive craft to avoid a kill shot to the head from an opponent interested only in producing another highlight like his dismantling of Fernando Montiel in February. Donaire was vocal about his disappointment when speaking to HBO’s Max Kellerman after the clean sweep on the scorecards was announced.

“As great as he was, maybe he didn’t come to fight tonight,” declared Donaire in an obvious understatement. “I guess I know how Pacquiao felt against Clottey.”

The Ghanian’s performance against Pacman last year would have been an apt anology, except in that fight the smaller man was the aggressor. Nevertheless, Donaire is too freakishly talented for the stench of this disappointing outing to linger for long. He confirmed his intention of moving up to 122 lbs. for his next fight rather than waiting for the winner of Joseph Agebeko-Abner Mares II. That is a fight we’d love to see but Donaire would probably destroy anyone at 118; at least Jorge Arce at 122 may be willing to stand and exchange for a few rounds.

Some consolation for ticket buyers came in the form of rising featherweight Mikey Garcia, who demolished Mexico’s Juan Carlos Martinez in the fourth round of another impressive performance. The unbeaten brother of trainers Robert and Danny Garcia scored his 23rd stoppage in 27 fights, all victories. After a slow start that saw a game Martinez mark Garcia under his eye in the first, Garcia picked up the pace and scored his first knockdown with a left hook at the end of the third.

Mikey has perhaps the nicest one-two combination in the sport and he unleashed it in the fourth. A right hook sent Martinez down a second time, then a straight right scored a third knockdown and indicated the end was near. Garcia refused to relent and unleashed a flurry of heavy blows to the head that forced the ref to wave it off soon after. Garcia looks to have arrived as a featherweight contender; the time has come for him to challenge the top fighters at that weight. Hopefully he gets a deserved title shot in the next six months.

A shallow undercard was highlighted by Long Beach light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan, who scored another impressive stoppage over Anthony Pietrantonio. This was the second time this month we’ve entered a show just in time to see a stoppage by Monaghan, who had a large and very vocal contingent of Irish supporters in tow. His ability to sell tickets should ensure the 30-year-old plenty of opportunities for work in the near future. Oceanside native Mike Brooks remained unbeaten by securing a one-sided decision over Eddie Ramirez in a six-round lightweight contest and Long Island’s Tommy Rainone won a unanimous decision over Brad Jackson at 150 lbs.