Hands of stone Donaire fought with injured hand

Move over Roberto Duran. Filipino world superbantamweight champion Nonito Donaire is boxing’s new ‘manos de piedra’ (hands of stone).
Donaire once more unravelled what damage his hands can do when he sent Mexican legend Jorge Arce reeling to the ropes and snoring his way to slumber after three vicious rounds.
But that is not the story.
The knockout win sure was remarkable in the eyes of many. What a lot people may not have known was that Donaire fought Jorge Arce with an injured hand.
The reigning World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight champion admitted he was a bit wary about the injury on the night he climbed the ring against the durable Mexican at the Toyota Center here.
“My left hand is not completely healed,” said Donaire of the explosive fist that sent Arce into retirement with a smashing knockout with just a second left in the third round.
“It didn’t bleed, but I was kind of worried about it.”
Donaire had previous experiences of injuring either his left or right hand shortly after a fight. Prior to the Arce fight, the 30-year-old Filipino suffered a cut in his left knuckles following his ninth-round knockout win over Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan.
The injury he suffered in the aftermath of his title bout with Nishioka initially became a concern, with fears that his highly-awaited showdown with Arce may be postponed given the short proximity of the two fights.
But the warrior in Donaire prevailed.
He said, “a lot of people are actually saying, `You sure have fought well already this whole year,’ insinuating that he need not rush fighting Arce, who at 33, still remains one of the toughest Mexican fighters today.
Donaire asked the opinion of doctors before agreeing to take on Arce.
“The doctor said it’s not going to be 100 percent, but if I’m okay with it, a month’s rest would be enough,” added the ‘Filipino Flash.’
On fight night, it hardly showed Donaire was hurting. He dropped Arce down to the canvas thrice, including the powerful left hook which he referred to as the “damaging punch” of the match.