NONITO DONAIRE W12 RAFAEL CONCEPCION

Faced with a strong opponent who held a significant weight advantage, and handicapped from the second round by a bruised and swollen left hand, “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire went to a hit and move style to outpoint Rafael Concepcion in the main event on the “Pinoy Power II” PPV show.

This was a much tougher fight for Donaire than generally expected. What I failed to take into account was how much of an advantage Concepcion had by weighing in four and a half pounds over the weight limit in the 115-pound title fight. By the time the men got into the ring he was probably a junior lightweight, while Donaire had boxed as a flyweight in his last fight. The impact of the punches told the tale. Even Concepcion’s jabs were pushing Donaire back, while Donaire’s best blows weren’t budging the tough Panamanian, who lived up to his “El Torito” nickname.

I was under the impression that Concepcion had been struggling all week to make weight, but Donaire’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, said from Las Vegas on Sunday that this was apparently not exactly the case. Dunkin’s view is that the Concepcion camp knew all along what they were doing and that they weren’t worried about the fine or the title (WBA interim super flyweight), they just wanted the win.

Concepcion fought a gritty, fierce fight — he boxed from round two with a cut over the left eye — but I didn’t like his post-fight comments when he asserted that Donaire was running away. With the Panamanian’s weight and strength advantage, obviously it would have suited Concepcion very well to have Donaire stand right in front of him. The sport is still called boxing, and Donaire won by using superior skills. The unanimous decision seemed to me to be a formality, because for most of the 12 rounds Donaire was outboxing his opponent, but one judge had it surprisingly close.

Donaire said afterwards that he had hurt his left hand in the second round. “The hand’s so swollen you can’t even see his knuckles,” manager Dunkin told me.

“Nonito said the guy was just so big, he was landing bombs and they weren’t having any effect. The guy must have been 132, 133 pounds on the night. Nonito showed he has the boxing ability and the heart to win when he was under a lot of pressure.”

Donaire also showed he can take a punch. Concepcion landed some heavy right hands and left hooks, and there were moments when the fight seemed to be tilting in his favour. Donaire came back, though, using the jab and scoring with fast punches although, with his hand hurting, he wasn’t able to get full power on the left hooks and uppercuts. By the later rounds, Donaire was having success with quick, snappy rights, but his biggest punches have always been from the left side and on this night the left-hand firepower was compromised.

It was an entertaining, often exciting fight, with a speedier, more stylish boxer scoring more points than a bigger, stronger opponent who was dangerous to the end.

On a crowded Saturday night (why does it always seem to be feast or famine with televised boxing?) I watched one PPV show live, the other on tape with the results not known. First up was the “Hook City” show from Biloxi, MS, and I thought that Roy Jones Jr. looked as good as he has ever looked in demolishing a game but outclassed Jeff Lacy , who was retired by a compassionate corner after 10 rounds in the scheduled 12-round light-heavyweight title bout.

Even allowing for the fact that Lacy is a slow, diminished fighter, Jones has to be given credit for a performance that was astonishing for a 40-year-old. He fought like a young fighter. The hand speed, the punch-anticipation, the showmanship was reminiscent of the much younger RJJ. His left hooks — especially to the body — were destroying Lacy.

“Boy, this has been a good, old-fashioned whuppin,’ ” commentator Barry Tompkins noted in the seventh round. By the ninth I was getting uncomfortable watching the target practice. Lacy, both eyes swollen and closing, was starting to wobble, and Jones didn’t seem to want to hit him any more. It was a relief when the corner pulled Lacy out.

Now Jones looks like meeting Australia’s Danny Green , who landed big punches to crush the willing but outgunned Argentinean Julio Cesar Dominguez in five rounds in the chief supporting bout. Jones against Green will be a mega fight Down Under if negotiations are successfully completed.