Skills Pay The Bills - My Reflections On Tonight's Fight

"We got to do something!" Robert Garcia

"I didn't watch tape. We made a mistake. I got to change it." Nonito Donaire

But change what? And do what? Most of us where aware of Donaire's stunted offensive creativity. When forced to lead he often looks uncomfortable, confused, and frustrated. This was amplified when a seasoned veteran (Yes, veteran) showed that while speed is nice, skills are far more vital in this game. It's the sweet science after all. This is a thinking game, just as much as it is a punching game.

The Donaire jab is a phrase you rarely hear. I along with many other posters here have criticized Donaire for his lack of offensive creativity. Do not confuse this with punch variety (Although it is the application of this that we're talking about). We've criticized his temperament when it comes to being too in love with his power. For these reasons, I never truly believed he was legitmately a top 3 P4P fighter, let alone top 5. In the fight tonight, Donaire's jab was non-existent. It wasn't a factor whatsoever. I don't care how great Rigo's counter right hand is. Donaire never had a dynamic jab and it showed. Jab the man at his chest, double it up, give him different rythms, feint with it or without it. Whatever you do you got to mix it up. While Donaire looked frustrated and unimpressive against previous defensive fighters, he was frustrated for not landing on those fighters. Tonight Donaire was frustrated from not just landing but from getting hit.

All of the things we've pointed out about Donaire's stunted offensive initiatve, one punch-happy, non-jabbing style where amplified
tenfold tonight. Rigo looked tens steps ahead of Donaire. Donaire actually looked his best when he threw caution to the wind and put on his best Mike Tyson impression. Unfortunately, with little activity and a lack of a jab that style could probably never be sustained. It led to Donaire's one knockdown, but also led to a badly busted up eye. The truth is it was his best chance in the fight. Donaire doesn't have the jab to compete at a distance, nor does he have the discipline or ability to control range as effectively as the masterful Cuban. Many of us looked at Donaire's size and figured that that would be enough to help him compensate for his defiencies and compete from a distance. We were wrong then, too. Let this be a reminder to boxing fans to not get too enamored by size. Just look at the two best fighters in the game and check their fight night weights to confirm this truism.

Previously we saw Donaire look predictable and telegraphic when on the initiative but where so awed by his speed and power that we most of us where all too forgiving. Let that be another reminder for us boxing fans to not get too enamored by punchers. But what else did we see? We saw one fighter schooling another, and we saw one corner schooling the other. Apparently, most of Garcia's training had been established to Donaire from the phone. I'm not big on Garcia is a trainer to be frank, at least not with his dealings with Donaire. I honestly haven't truly seen much to any progression from Donaire since his brutal knockout of Vic Darchinian. I've seen a dynamic puncher get more confident, and get more and better fights along the way. Not a ton of improvement or versatility in the process of Donaire's success, however. During the fight Robert Garcia seemed just as perplexed and as unimpressive as Donaire. Yes, he said not to punch one at a time and to throw more. But he also thought it was a close fight, while never seeming sincere in that expression. He seemed just as shocked as to what was happening as his fighter was. Never showed the basic urgency to urge his fighter that he had to get the knockdout. He showed concern for Rios against Alvarado in a much closer contest, though. Both Donaire and Garcia looked to be the amateurs facing the seasoned professional on the other side of the ring tonight. And while they looked blatantly unprepared or overconfident it wouldn't matter. Nothing would've changed. They don't even know what exactly to change. Unfortunately the credit is already starting to be stripped from Rigo. Lampley credits Rigo's skill during the fight but follows the broadcast by saying that he believes Donaire wasn't prepared.

Credit to Rigo. He's a terrific fighter. Incredibly skilled. As fans we can sometimes get too overly obsessed with durability & power. Rarely fights are won and loss on those merits alone. Yes Khan critics, I'm talking to you, too. It's his defense that's the far bigger issue. I should've had greater confidence in Rigo considering I gave Navarez three to four rounds against Donaire. Imagine if Navarez was bigger, it could've been even closer. On a final note, awful scorecards. Just dreadful. And lastly I think Lederman needs to go. He acts like every fighter that's great and losing is just sitting there taking punches and not trying. As if boxing success was only measured by throwing punches. He is losing it.

 

It seemed FOTY may have got to Donaire's head too much. And Trainer of the Year got in the ways of Garcia's time. I'm not huge on Robert Garcia with Donaire to begin with but going over gameplan details largely over the phone? Come on now...