With Big TKO Win Over Sidorenko, Donaire Looking More and More Credible as Pacquiao Heir Apparent

The boxing blogs are buzzing this morning with discussion about “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire’s 4 round demoltion of 4th round TKO victory of Ukrainian Wladimir Sidorenko in a battle for the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California yesterday. Donaire had Sidorenko on the canvas three times in four rounds in the Top Rank Pay Per View event.  Donaire also seemed to have been reading what Pacquiao has been saying about boxing as entertainment: “”It doesn’t matter who you are as long as you can entertain the people,” said Donaire. “You take pride in having everyone as fans, whether its the Mexican people, the American people and especially the Filipino people. I love the fans, and I will do the best for my fans.”

Here’s a sample of what’s being said out there about Donaire this morning:

Scott Crist, Bad Left Hook: This was a pure slaughter, and Donaire was spectacular. He rocked Sidorenko (22-3-2, 7 KO) all over the ring in the first round, and knocked him down late. Only the bell saved Sidorenko from being stopped in one. Donaire dominated the second round, too, then put Sidorenko down in the third round again. At that point, Sidorenko’s nose was bleeding and his face was puffed up everywhere. To his credit, he kept coming at Donaire (25-1, 17 KO), but he just couldn’t handle Donaire’s speed and power, and couldn’t hurt Nonito. Donaire drilled him with a left hook and right hand down the pipe in the fourth, Sidorenko took a knee, and with blood pouring, he stayed down. It was the right move. He did his best, but he was totally overwhelmed. Donaire looked phenomenal at 118 pounds. After the bout, Donaire said a February fight with Fernando Montiel “is set,” but we’ve heard that story before. That’s a great fight, though, even better now than before. Donaire was locked in and a destroyer in the ring tonight. February 19 is the date for Montiel-Donaire, and Bob Arum said they’ll have a Mike Jones-Jesus Soto Karass rematch that night, too.

Doug Fisher, Ring Magazine: Some (including the fighter himself) believe Donaire’s pound-for-pound ranking is too high, but the San Francisco-based Filipino certainly lived up to his vast potential in dispatching Sidorenko (22-3-2, 7 KOs), a 35-year-old veteran who had faced top bantamweight fighters and had never been stopped or dropped before Saturday’s fight.  Simply put, Donaire was too fast, too big, too strong and too powerful for the game but over-matched Ukrainian fighter.  He repeatedly rocked Sidorenko with left hooks and lead right hands in the opening round before putting the tough former beltholder down with a left uppercut-right cross combination just before the bell. Donaire controlled the second round with his jab, reducing Sidorenko’s face to a bloody mask and probably breaking his nose in the process. A lighting-fast lead hook put Sidorenko down in the third round before a blistering one-two combination knocked the veteran on his back in the fourth. Referee Marcos Rosales did the right thing by waving the fight off at 1:48 of the round. Donaire, a former flyweight titleholder who was fighting at bantamweight for the first time, wanted to make a statement against Sidorneko, and he did. “I feel great,” Donaire said after the fight. “This where I want to be (118 pounds). I never questioned my power. I’m motivated and this is what you get from the Filipino Flash when he’s motivated, confident, and not afraid to get hit.”  It was arguably Donaire’s best performance since he scored THE RING’s KO and Upset of the Year by knocking then-undefeated Vic Darchinyan cold in 2007. The 28-year-old boxer-puncher says the Sidorenko fight is definitely his best showing.

Brad Berkwitt, Ringside Report: Two-division World Champion Nonito Donaire, 25-1, 17 KO’s continues to show he is the second best fighter out of the PI next to Manny Pacquiao when he destroyed former WBA Bantamweight Champion Wladimir Sidorenko, 22-3-2, 7 KO’s to set up a February 19th clash with WBC Bantamweight Champion Fernando Montiel. After hurting Sidorenko early on, Donaire dropped him with a left & right combination at the end of first round. Donaire scored another knockdown with a big left hand in round three and put the former champion down for the count in round four for good.

Tim Starks, Queensberry Rules: Nonito Donaire stepped up to bantamweight and against a quality opponent in Volodymyr Sydorenko, reminded us of the incredible talent we all know and love. Against terrible opponents, Donaire has been expectedly excellent, but it meant very little. The number he did on Sydorenko, stopping him in the 4th round and turning Sydorenko’s nose into a Kill Bill-style blood fountain, was all the more impressive for the fact that it finally meant something this time.