Nonito Donaire vs. Vic Darchinyan II - November 9th

I'm just not sure Donaire gets the knockout again, which the poll shows most anticipating he'll do. :think

Donaire was in his absolute prime then, and in spite of that was yet to step up and thus little-known outside diehard circles, and Darchinyan had already soundly thrashed his brother Glenn. So it was a perfect storm of Darchinyan being overconfident and giving Donaire an opening for a perfect counter-punch, smack in the middle of his peak years (physically).

Donaire arguably hasn't kayoed someone that impressively since Montiel. Arce was tailor-made for him and maybe shouldn't have even been competing anymore, having grown at best extremely inconsistent and underwhelming in the ring more often than not. Nishioka fought scared, like Narvaez did, with the only difference being he lacked the stamina and elusiveness to survive like Narvaez. Neither of those were really "OMG how did he do that?!" moments like the Darchinyan, Montiel, Tyson Marquez, or Chango Vargas knockouts.

Against Rigondeaux, Mathebula, and even as far back as Vazquez Jr., Donaire hasn't looked so hot offensively. His timing with his counter punches is off compared to his prime, and he wastes a lot.

Darchinyan still has two pluses going for him - power and teak-toughness. Unless he stupidly rushes in and gets caught perfectly on the button like he did in 2007 I just don't see how Donaire is going to replicate the feat.

I think Donaire is the rightful big favorite here, but a decision seems far likelier to me. :conf