I mentioned before that I laugh at the most inappropriate things, so when I saw the latest chapter of Nonito Donaire Jr.’s feud with his father on Jude Turcuato’s blog, I cracked up. It’s a serious matter, and I shouldn’t really be laughing but I can’t help it. Jude’s somber take on it is appropriate, and perhaps you should read that first.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire family drama, starring Jericho Rosales"

The Cuneta Astrodome was barely half-full, but you wouldn’t know it from the cheers of the audience. I went to the card with two of the biggest boxing nuts among my friends, Alekos Orendain, whom you might remember as the resident reviewer of the HBO 24/7 series on the site, and Alex Tizon, a Pulitzer Prize-winning colleague who “has been punched in the face more often than any of [his] closest friends.” Each of them had to travel halfway across the metropolis on a fine Saturday morning in January just to spend the next several hours watching skinny men pummel each other.

It was no surprise to us, therefore, that the crowd was composed of fellow boxing nuts who, when not screaming at the action in the ring, were busy hooting and hollering at, and pretty much sexually-harassing, the round girls during breaks. Testosterone dripped heavily in the air.

Continue reading "Carlos Tamara rallies for the upset over Brian Viloria; Donnie Nietes, Jimrex Jaca, Jason Pagara win"

Some very sad news broke out of Las Vegas on the eve of the much-anticipated Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight. Filipino fighter Z Gorres collapsed after his 10-round decision victory over Colombian Luis Melendez and was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital, where Boxing Scene reports that he was diagnosed with subdural hematoma. Gorres had to be placed in a medically-induced coma as doctors had to remove part of his skull to relieve the swelling of his brain.

It was an unfortunate turn of events for Gorres, whose win over Melendez would have assured him of a spot in a new Pinoy Power card headlined by Nonito Donaire next year. Instead, he is now battling for his life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Z and his family.

Oh shut up. You know you’re going to click and read every link in this post. Kunyari ka pa.



Lolit Solis claims that the Carla Abellana-JC Intal breakup is just a gimmick, so fans would be fooled into thinking that Carla is available to fall in love with her Rosalinda leading man Geoff Eigenmann. Manay Lolit posts as proof pictures of the couple together.

Continue reading "Fire Quinito links: Showbiz na showbiz edition"

Fire Quinito rounds up all the best reads from the aftermath of Pinoy Power 2, so you can sit back and continue to wonder why Willie Revillame still has a job.

Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing: “[Rafael] Concepcion came out smoking landing hard left hooks that got [Nonito] Donaire’s attention. Donaire answered by digging into Concepcion’s body early and often. A right by Concepcion landed and seemed to incense Donaire who jumped all over him and unloaded a few rights in an attempt to tame him. By the end of the second, Concepcion was cut over his left eye and Donaire had eaten enough left hands to change his tactics up a bit. Donaire came out looking to box and move around the large ring. His quicker feet and hands allowed him to stay on the outside and pick and peck, slip and slide his way around the slower but hard charging Concepcion. In the middle rounds, Concepcion began to catch up and corner Donaire, putting hard and heavy hands on him and forcing the ‘Filipino Flash’ to stand and fight. This seemed to favor the bigger and stronger Concepcion who rocked Donaire and worked his way through the Flash’s leaky defense. Donaire steeled himself as the fight progressed to the championship rounds and regained control, moving and boxing from the outside. It became a case of ‘win this one look good in the next one.’ However, Concepcion did not go quietly and the two traded hard down the stretch of what was billed as a showcase fight for Donaire but ended up being a very good little scrap.”

Continue reading "Boxing mop-up: Nonito Donaire's big win, Bernabe Concepcion's ugly loss"

Steven Luevano, Nonito Donaire, Rafael Concepcion, and Bernabe Concepcion

I tuned in to Pinoy Power 2, and the first bout I watched was a terribly familiar sight. It was a fight I’d seen a thousand times before: the Filipino challenger, all heart and no head, stalking the wily foreign champion, who keeps his distance and tags his opponents with timely hits. It’s every other boxing fight by every other Filipino boxer, and watching it gave me no reason to think that the result would be any different. In this case, it was Filipino boxer Bernabe Concepcion against Mexican champion Steven Luevano.

Continue reading "Pinoy Power 2: Bernabe Concepcion gets DQ’d, Nonito Donaire escapes El Torito"

Fire Quinito rounds up all the must-read news leading up to Pinoy Power 2, featuring Nonito Donaire vs. Rafael Concepcion and Bernabe Concepcion vs. Steven Luevano, so that you could save time to ogle Marian Rivera’s turn as the latest Darna.

Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports: “Rafael Concepcion, the former interim World Boxing Association super flyweight champion, failed to make the division’s 115-pound limit Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel for his Saturday night bout for the interim belt against Nonito Donaire. Concepcion, who in his last two outings prior to the Donaire fight weighed in at 127 and 120 pounds, weighed in at 119 ½. Concepcion will be fined $13,000, 20 percent of original purse. Donaire weighed in at 115.”

Continue reading "Boxing mop-up: Pinoy Power 2 featuring world title fights by Nonito Donaire and Bernabe Concepcion"

Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire, the IBF flyweight champion, will make his debut at the super flyweight level next week, whetting Filipino boxing fans’ appetite for high-quality ring action as he steps into the ring against Panamanian Rafael Concepcion.

The Philippine Star reported this weekend that Donaire will be dedicating his fight to former President Corazon Aquino, and will in fact come into the ring with yellow trunks:

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire is most definitely not a douchebag"

Fire Quinito is back with the best of Pinoy boxing news on the web, so you can get back to being excited for Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2.

Noel Orsal, Philippine Entertainment Portal: “Tinanong din si Aling Dionisia kung totoo ba na ang gusto niyang makapareha ay si Piolo Pascual kung sakali na gagawa siya ng pelikula. ‘Oo,’ sagot ni Mommy Dionisia. Maliban kay Piolo, sino pa ang gusto niyang makapareha? Si Jericho Rosales daw na gumanap sa life story ni Manny Pacquiao ang gusto niya. Pero kung papipiliin siya, sino kina Piolo at Jericho ang gusto niyang makapareha sa pelikula? ‘Piolo Pascual,’ nakangiting sagot ni Mommy Dionisia.

Continue reading "Boxing mop-up: Mommy Dionisia Pacquiao prefers Piolo Pascual over Jericho Rosales, and other Pinoy boxing news"

Boxing champions Nonito Donaire and Brian Viloria, fresh off their twin victories in April's "The Flash and the Furious" card at the Araneta Coliseum, are looking to bring their brand of Filipino awesome to San Francisco fight fans. The Manila Bulletin is reporting that Top Rank's Bob Arum is reportedly looking at an August 22 date in the Bay Area, to draw the same fans who showed Manny Pacquiao mad love during the San Francisco Giants' Filipino heritage night last month.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire, Brian Viloria to take their thunder to the Bay Area"