Nonito Donaire vs Guillermo Rigondeaux Build Up & Breakdown Thread

I see Rigo winning this. Not everyones favourite fighter but he is a classy operator. Donaire will be forced to chase the fight was Rigo picks up round after round and will make a sloppy mistake, and Rigo will stop him with a perfect counter punch.

 

I'm going with Rigondeaux by stoppage. Donaire will be forced to take the lead in this fight and when his opponent isn't coming on to him and offering him a lot of chances to pull the trigger I feel he gets frustrated and looks a bit clueless.

I feel Narvaez showed Donaire to look a little one dimensional. I know he won the fight comfortably but that's because Narvaez had neither the size or power to really compete with a fighter like Donaire. By keeping a high guard and being defensive Narvaez was able to take away the left hook of Donaire. In that fight he complained about being bored to his corner but I actually think that translated to, "I want to knock this guy out but I don't know how to do it." He never switched it up, targeted the body to try and get Narvaez to lower the guard. He simply did what he did for the 12 rounds. Rigondeaux can do what Narvaez did in his sleep. He can, however, punch and is obviously a real 122lb man.

In this fight I can see Donaire being very frustrated and looking for the KO more and more as the fight progresses. This will lead to him walking onto shots he simply doesn't see.

Rigondeaux TKO 8

 

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2. Abner Mares (WBC)
3. Guillermo Rigondeaux (WBA)
4. Wilfredo Vasquez Jnr
5. Jeffrey Mathebula
6. Rico Ramos
7. Akifumi Shimoda
8. Alejandro Lopez
9. Victor Terrazas

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11. Vic Darchinyan
12. Takalani NDlovu

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14. Hugo Fidel Cazares
15. Fernando Montiel

IBF - Vacant

 

I love both fighters in this, especially Rigo but I think this fight will be similar to Donaire-Nishioka (*spelling)

Rigo is pure class but I cant see him coping with Donaire's rare blend of speed, skill & power. I think Rigo will shut up shop early on & be very negative, it might go the distance but I can see Donaire breaking him down as the fight progresses.

 

Hard fight to call. Donaire has been in with better fighters certainly and has the power to stop anyone at any time. That said Rigondeaux (who has power himself) will make him lead and frustrate him, landing counters flush. His body work is also very good.

Great fight to watch. As a UK lad I imagine Frampton would struggle with either of these two right now. Then again who wouldn't.

 

I think Rigo is pure class, I'm just not all that sure whether he'll cope with Donaire's power. If I was forced to choose I'd go with Rigo on pts or a late stoppage but I wouldn't be too certain of it.

 

Great fight! Donaire is my favourite fighter right now and I fancy him to edge it although its a tough one to call, rigondeaux is a great fighter as well but Donaire has fought at a higher level as a pro and has the edge in power imo.

 

It's going to be a close fight for a while. Donaire is MUCH faster though and I think it will look a lot like the Narvaez fight after a few rounds actually. I don't see Rigondeaux being able to compete with the athleticism and speed of Donaire so its going to be tough for him to land his counters. Donaire on the other hand will also not be going all out because he will be wary of Rigondeauxs power himself. I think this is the reason Donaire didn't really want the fight. He knows it will be a borefest for 12 rounds. He's not going to be stupid and run in trying to KO Rigondeaux and do you really think Rigondeaux is going to allow himself to be countered with huge punches by Donaire?

It's got safety first fight written all over it and I personally can't see how the slower fighter wins such a fight.

I can't even see Rigondeaux taking too many chances when he goes behind either.

Donaire UD.

 

Rigondeaux is one of my favourite fighters but I think this is the right time for Donaire, Donaire ko late

 

Like someone said earlier, I think Rigo will become seriously gun-shy in ths fight once he feels Donaire's power. Whether he can still be active enough to pick Nonito off I don't know but I seem to remember Rigo getting caught with a couple of left hooks in his last fight, so that could be a key punch for ND in the fight. Atm, I am leaning towards Donaire winning the fight by stoppage.

 

havent been so excited for a fight in ages
im gonna say Rigo by close decision probably split
i think Donaire's gonna be lookin for the left hook but he wont land it because Rigo is never gonna lead, Rigo will try and keep the pace slow and keep the rounds borin but tryin to edge them by counterin whatever Donaire throws, i think he will also clinch a lot when Donaire leaps in and misses
what i love about this fight is Donaire likes to leap in with his punches and Rigo likes step back to avoid punches so there will be so much missing and the fight will look clumsy at times
i can see Donaire knockin him down a few times early but Rigo clinches and survives and then lands a few decent body and headshots later in the fight to gain Donaires respect
im lookin forward to this so much i hope it doesnt get canceled like all the other fights

 

My view on this is probably well-established, but I expect Donaire to beat Rigondeaux by either a stoppage between 7-9, or with a wide points decision.

Couple of reasons: Donaire sets masterful traps and this is what makes many opponents so reluctant to engage with him. It's not just the power - he sometimes places his feet where he looks open to a shot and then does a half step into his own punching range but out of his opponent's. By the time his opponent has figured out what they've done, those fast hands have usually done the damage.

Second, while Donaire struggles when forced to lead against more passive opponents, he's never looked like losing once. He'll gladly peck away and take rounds on activity and ring generalship. The mistakes he tends to make are when he's got an opponent willing to trade and he risks it to land his own. And, when he does get to engage, he's usually devastating.

Rigo is clearly one of the most skilled and smooth boxers out there, but his negative tactics versus Cordoba are cause for concern, since he was very fortunate to get that split decision, IMO. As soon as he realised Cordoba could hurt him, he got in reverse gear and played it safe. That was fine against a decent opponent, but Donaire is elite.

Nonito has got faster hands, his footwork is just as schooled (but in a much more offensive-minded way), he clearly punches a lot harder and he's never ever looked seriously hurt in a fight.

Can Rigo pull off a tactical plan that requires him to be completely negative and try and pick-pocket rounds, without ever getting into Donaire's range or without simply standing off hoping for a mistake?

I don't think so. The early rounds will see the Cuban moving around the ring, firing jabs and the occasional lead left. He'll try to draw Donaire onto his hook, or force him to miss whenever he puts punches together.

But, as Donaire sees Rigo's rhythm, he'll start to see openings for his own shots. He'll do that little trick he's so fond of, where he puts his lead foot on the inside of a southpaw's to draw a lead, then stepping around out of range and getting his own hook in.

This will be a tactical battle, with few fireworks, and a lot of fans will call it boring. Eventually though, Rigo won't be able to maintain his gameplan in the face of Donaire's variety and he'll get hammered with something he doesn't expect. He appears to be chinny, so could get stopped, but I suspect he'll just stink the joint out and lose wide.

Donaire, TKO 7-9 or a wide UD.

 

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Donaire looks HUGE beside Rigo. Now I'm certain Nonito will flatten Rigo.