by Daniel Vano. On the surface, this seems like a strange question. The Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire, cruised to a unanimous decision on Saturday night, adding Jeffry Mathebulas IBF Super Bantamweight title to his growing collection of world championships. Scores of 119-108, 118-109 and 117-110 portray a picture of dominance. Add to that a heavy knockdown scored in round four, and raised eyebrows may come my way. But Nonito Donaire was anything but dominant in the Home Depot Centre in Carson, California. While the judges may have scored the fight a near shut out, Donaires swollen face told a different story, as did the punch stats. According to CompuBox, by the end of round 9, Mathebula had out-landed Donaire in every round apart from the 4th, when both fighters connected with 19 punches. The South-Africans height and reach advantage was causing the pound for pound star all kinds of problems, and going into the championship rounds, I had Mathebula up 95-94. Although the reason for Donaires struggle may have been Mathebulas awkwardness, it became clear to me that Donaire himself was the problem. Like so many punchers who have come before him, Nonito has started to fall in love with his power. It wasnt hard to look for examples of this on Saturday night. Donaire continually ploughed forward, looking for that one big money shot to end proceedings. But it just wasnt working. There goes Donaire looking for that home run left hook, but he is getting hit with about eight shots. While Max Kellerman spoke these words in round 9, he could have uttered them in every round. Unfortunately for Donaire, jaw-dropping knockouts have come to be expected from him ever since he shocked the world by stopping Vic Darchinyan in the 5th round of Ring Magazines Upset of the Year way back in 2007. In 2011 he repeated the feat, this time brutalising Fernando Montiel in the second round. Indeed, since stopping the previously undefeated Darchinyan, Donaire has left a path of destruction in his wake. Brutal stoppage wins over Volodymyr Sydorenko, Hernan Marquez, Raul Martinez and Moruti Mthalane left many ranking Donaire as one of the best fighters in the world, with some suggesting he was the hardest hitting fighter on the planet in a pound for pound sense. While numerous World Titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, and Bantamweight were added in the process, Donaires style was changing. No longer was he setting up the power shots by using his awesome boxing skills, instead he began looking for that home run left hook. As a result, performances against Omar Narvaez and Wilredo Vazquez Jr up at Super Bantamweight have been less than awe inspiring, despite Flash adding yet another world title to his collection. Ironically, however, it was Nonitos power which may have bailed him out on Saturday night. The knockdown in the 4th round, as well as inflicting a possible broken jaw to Mathebula in the 11th round, which subsequently slowed the South African up for the rest of the fight, saw him scrape home 114-113 on my card. But it is now clear a change is needed. Donaire needs to revert back to the style which made him such a force, boxing his way inside, and letting the power shots flow by countering opponents with his quick, awkward punches. Greatness beckons for the man they call the Flash. But he will need to be a lot better against the best fighters the Super Bantamweight division has to offer, namely Toshiaki Nishioka, Abner Mares, and the talented Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux, if he is to achieve his boxing destiny. A further move up in weight has been spoken about, with a mouth watering fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa a very real possibility in the near future. I shall end this by repeating myself. Greatness beckons for this talented 29 year old. The only man in Nonito Donaires way is the Filipino Flash himself.
Nice thread Vano , well written mate :good I stated a little while ago that i believe every time Donaire has been out since moving up in weight , his reflexes have slooked progressively slower with the rise in weight class , i still believe this to be true For a fighter who relied a large portion of his game based on the speed of his reflexes , then his technique then his power , this is bad news for Donaire , now he's relying on his power first , and everything else second , thats not gonna work for him !!! , or should i say , it will work , but a big surprise for Donaire is round the corner unless something changes up Ive seen nothing from Donaire to suggest he can match Gamboa or Rigondeaux , infact , i dread to think what Rigondeaux would do to him after the way he looked Saturday night The weight doesn't suit him , he's heavy round his back , he's visibly much slower , he's heavy on his feet , he's being hit a lot more , his own shots are not as fast or as hard , i just don't see Donaire the way i seen him down @118 , i get the impression the jump in weight was forced rather than a natural progression as his body got bigger Im starting to form the opinion he's maybe not the special one i believed he was in the lower weights
Possibly fighting Arce next who should be tailor made for him, so I'd expect him to look rather good. My problem is that since the Montiel fight he's faced decent but hardly threatening opponents. Nishioka would be an absolute handful but there's no way in hell he'll get a decent fight against any cash cow in America. Arum and/or the WBC will see to that. He'll probably retire. Maybe I'm being realy pesimistic but I can't see Nonito fighting Mares (as he's a cash cow) or Rigondeaux either. Business rather than sport is dominant at these weights at the moment.
Which is a shame because due to lack of exposure it wasn't that long ago that we were getting regular (what could be seen as super fights) at these weights , now were seeing guys who are supposed to be world beaters knocking over bums and avoiding one another Or should i say a reluctance to match anybody in a fight that could be seen as risky !!! , Top Rank and Donaire being the main culprit's at this moment in time , but Mares and Moreno should of already been made , GB can have the finger pointed at them for that , and then there's Rigondeaux one if the most exciting prospects in world boxing screaming from the roof tops for any top fighter near his weight class and he can't get a decent opponent It stinks
It's ****. I can't see Rigo or Nishioka getting fights against the top guys. Why do you think the WBC made Nishioka 'super champ or whatever they call it? So they can freeze him out as lets face it, he'd probably be a slight favourite against Donaire at the moment and Rigo would cream him. Too many protected fighters at the moment and we as fans are missing out on a lot of c racking fights.
Yeah, he's completely wasting his natural ability.... with a **** trainer and a **** promoter. It wouldn't be so ridiculous if he was making big bucks, but he isn't really, is he?
Nishioka's not all that in my opinion and I think Donaire would be a heavy favourite vs. him. A clever boxer who relies on timing is a nightmare for him and that's exactly what Nonito is. Even a very shop worn Marquez, whose reflexes have all but gone, caused him a few troubles and Donaire is similar to a prime Rafa in some ways, if not a much more explosive version. Donaire would comfortably beat him I think. I love Mares as a fighter but he'd really struggle vs Donaire I'm afraid to say. He's developing all the time as a fighter and his adapatability means he's good at reading what to do in fights. But I think that'd mean the gameplan he'd take in to beat Donaire would put him in an even more vulnerable position becuase he'd have to take chances and that's where Donaire thrives. Montiel in many ways was faced with the same conundrum and for all his quality, we saw what the result was. Rigondeaux would be the toughest fight but another one I'd favour Donaire in. Rigondeaux is quicker I reckon but is not as good tactically and doesn't time punches as well. Donaire would have to be smart and be sure to keep Rigo from setting the tempo he wants but he could really frustrate him I believe, in a more effective way than Cordoba did, and reap the benefits. Doanire has looked sloppy as of late but it's a tag that's followed him around for his whole career after the Vic win. The hype came back after the Sidorenko & Montiel performances but if you look at the quality of wins on his record, it's pretty incomparable in the lower weights. He's consistently beating world class contenders and it'd just be nice to see him take on a Nishioka or Rigondeaux at SBW to cement his legacy and no.1 position in that division. I don't mind fighters moving up in weight when necessary but really here he has enough legitimate tests at 122 anyway. An Arce fight would be really disappointing but to be fair, I don't think he's had an easy fight for a while
Thanks for the responses lads this is an awesome post :good I completely agree that Donaire would be favourite (and probably beat) Mares and Nishioka. I've heard the Arce fight being mentioned, but Nish was ringside on Saturday and seems to be trying to force a fight. If I were the Jap, I'd jump at the chance based on the Mathebula fight. Nonito was hit far too often with straight punches (albeit jabs), and Nishioka has an awesome straight left which could maybe force Donaire to cover up. If the fight were to happen, I'd hope Nishioka tags him hard early on, and we may see Nonito actually set the shots up rather than jump in with that left hook. As for Rigo, I've always thought Donaire beats him. But he'll need to be a lot better than Saturday. I'll reiterate, I'm a fan of Donaire, I really am. But if he continues to fall on love with his power, he'll be beaten before too long, that much I'm certain
that's not what I said. Well, it's not what I meant anyway. I said performances against Narvaez and WV2 (which was at SBW) had been poor. I know the Narvaez fight was at Batam Perhaps it was poorly worded. Nice name btw
