“The Filipino Flash” Big News

NONITO Donaire of the Philippines fashioned out a sixth-round technical knockout (TKO) win over Moruti Mthalane of South Africa to keep his IBF flyweight crown Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 25-year-old Donaire, switching from orthodox to southpaw stance, opened a nasty cut over Mthalane's left eye from a left shot in the sixth round and referee stopped the bout upon the advice of the ring physician. Time was one minute and 31 seconds in the sixth. "I switched up and threw a left, and boom it hit him," Donaire said. "I knew that was it. There was no need to punish him anymore. He couldn't see me." Although it was not a stunning win, Donaire got the job done after fighting cautiously against the South African, a known big puncher. Donaire, who wrested the crown via a scintillating fifth-round KO over Vic Darchinyan last year, reportedly hurt his finger in the second round and this forced him to fight Mthalane in a southpaw stance from time to time. The Filipino boxer, who hails from General Santos City but is now based in the US, last fought and defended his title last year against Luis Maldonado, whom he stopped in the eighth round. Mthalane appeared to be fighting well and posed some problems for Donaire early on with his nice jabs and sniping from the outside when the fight was stopped. Donaire, however, landed some big shots of his own as just he waited for Mthalane to come in and make a mistake. The Filipino established an early lead when he out-boxed the South African in the first round. With the victory, Donaire raised his record to 21-1 with 13 KOs. Mthalane dropped to 22-3 with 15 stoppages.