Nonito Donaire vs. Simpiwe Vetyeka

This is set for May 10th in Macau, probably co-headlining what can be anticipated to be "Fists of Gold V" (that is, a Top Rank event airing on HBO and highlighted by the fifth pro match of Zou Shiming, assuming this Thai teenager Phenbaan he is penciled in with can't upset Zou's apple cart next week @ Fists of Gold IV...)

Donaire made his featherweight debut last November in a rematch with Vic Darchinyan, who unexpectedly gave Donaire more problems than in their first encounter way down at flyweight in 2007 - when Darchinyan was the same age Donaire is now and Donaire was entering his prime. Before that, Donaire had seen a cooling down period of his rapid ascent spanning from 2007 until early 2011. Two match-ups with relatively long-odd underdogs in WV2 and Jeff Mathebula that, foreshadowing the Darchinyan rematch, were far more competitive than anyone expected heading in - were sandwiched in between two dreary performances where aging titlists, legends in their home countries, journeyed into the USA for the allure of a Donaire payday, only to prove reluctant in passing the baton, stinking out the joint with every veteran survival tricks and scrap of negativity they could muster, causing Donaire to look very poor despite shutting out Narvaez and stopping Nishioka. Things had just started looking up again when he caught a break with a very flattering stylistic match-up that allowed him to batter Jorge Arce in dominant and crowd-pleasing fashion...but the return to form was to be short-lived. Guillermo Rigondeaux not only expanded on the groundwork laid down by Narvaez, Vazquez, Mathebula and Nishioka of making Donaire look pedestrian - he actually parlayed his ability to make Donaire miss into a pure scientific boxing and counter punching clinic, taking Donaire to proverbial school. The rematch with Darchinyan is the only psychological buffer Donaire has against that humiliating defeat - his first in well over a decade. The fly in that ointment is that nobody except perhaps Darchinyan himself ever thought it a necessary rematch and Donaire must know that it was a made-to-order confidence booster in which looking anything less than stellar had to be viewed as uninspiring. It probably did very little to quell his insecurities at how easily Rigondeaux managed to outbox him - but it did get him back on the scoreboard and give him a chance to feel out 126lbs and take several rounds to acclimate to it.

Simpiwe Vetyeka also only recently moved up to featherweight, and is 3-0 (3) since doing so. His first venture was a meaningless tuneup at home, as Vetyeka was himself coming off an embarrassing super bantamweight loss. His trainer would later throw Vetyeka under the bus and reveal that his discipline and passion for the sport were sorely lacking when he overlooked local journeyman Klaas Mboyane and dropped a resultant split decision in what should have been routine easy work in an 8-rounder. After both redoubling his dedication and growing comfortably into featherweight, Vetyeka has improved in spades. He is coming off consecutive stoppage victories over Indonesia's best pair of featherweights: the perennially world ranked Daud Cino Yordan and previously unbeaten long-reigning champion Chris John, in John's attempted 19th WBA defense. Mitigating the latter accomplishment is the fact that John had seemed ripe for the picking if not earlier then certainly in his 18th defense, given a shocking handful early on by lightly regarded Satoshi Hosono before a cut granted him a fortunate out with a No Contest. Still, he was roughed up and forced to quit and forfeit his zero for which Veteyka must be duly credited. As for Yordan, he was on top form heading into his upset at the hands of Vetyeka and has since righted the ship again with an impressive conquest of Vetyeka's surprisingly good countryman Sipho Taliwe that should have been a comfortable UD and not a SD...although before that he did have a gut-check close shave with Daniel Brizuela in his lightweight debut, which in turn should have been more like a SD than a comfortable UD. :yep He is always game and tough and Vetyeka bullied him worse than anyone ever has, including Celestino Caballero.

This is by no means a gimme for Donaire, even if Vetyeka may be unfamiliar to Western audiences. He is actually the more proven commodity at 126lbs, and like Donaire has only two career losses. Both men have one flukey blemish that belies their class (Donaire in his sophomore outing dropping a UD5 to nobody Rosendo Sanchez, and Vetyeka obviously the horrible prep job in looking past Mboyane) and one forgivable outclassing at the hands of a universally respected champion. (Donaire's foil of course being Rigondeaux, and Vetyeka coming up short in a 2007 challenge of then WBC bantamweight titlist Hozumi Hasegawa. Now, while Hasegawa was never the p4p talent Rigondeaux is, he was still quite good - and Hasegawa vs. Vetyeka was extremely close, whereas Rigondeaux vs. Donaire was, ignoring the official cards, a masterclass...)

Difficult to pick. Vetyeka has a lot of the components seen in those against whom The Flash has struggled in the past (length and reach, aggressiveness, work rate, defensive skill...) but in spite of the John coup this is still a leap up in class for V12, probably his biggest since Hasegawa.

 

I am leaning towards Vet, assuming he gets up for this as he did his last two and if Donaire in November showed us the best he is capable of in the division.

 

The original plan was to have Vetyeka first deal with his WBA mandatory, Akifumi Shimoda, on the upcoming Macau card on February 22nd (truthfully headlined by Vazquez vs. Shafikov, but nominally by Shiming vs. Phenbaan...) while Donaire fought some fringe contender, setting up Vetyeka vs. Donaire in the spring provided neither of them stumbled en route.

TR seem to have fast-tracked it, as Shimoda is still on that card now facing Marvin Sonsona for the vacant WBO international belt and therefore no longer in the picture to obstruct the lower-ranked Donaire in his bid for contention.

 

See, the most telling match to me is Donaire's last time facing a South African - or a significantly taller opponent. (Arce, Darchinyan, Rigondeaux and Nishioka all being in the same midget range as Donaire, within an inch either way)

Many people thought it was much narrower than what the scorecards reflected and some even had it a draw or with Mathebula edging it on activity or connects overall despite the knockdown and Donaire's generally more damaging blows.

I rate Vetyeka above Mathebula in pound for pound ability. His jab is as good, shorter but perhaps more accurate, he is more a boxer-puncher as opposed to Mathebula's slapping high-volume style, and his chin is better. This could be a very rough night for Nonito if the judging is fair. I don't see him getting a stoppage over Vetyeka when he didn't manage it with the inferior Mathebula.

Despite halting Arce and Nishioka, the power of Donaire honestly seemed diminished to me just with the move up from bantam to super bantam. Even though he stopped Darchinyan in his FW debut, he labored to do so and it appears his power has continued to diminish and probably won't suffice when thrown at bigger, stronger, natural feathers. Vetyeka may be new to it, but looks strong and comfortable at 126lbs - and there is the matter of his defense being a great deal more sound than Arce's or Darchinyan's (and his legs younger and fresher than poor Nishioka's, who by that point had also lost all hunger whereas Vetyeka is now coming into his own and looking extremely motivated of late...)

 

:yep Serious pick? I see you did vote accordingly.

Donaire looked hittable in Darchinyan II (and was down or at best level on virtually all posters' scorecards entering the ninth...down 77-75 on mine...), but did you think Vic ever shook him enough to question whether his dependable chin remained intact moving up? :think

 

Donaire vs. Darchinyan II:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x173lrx_vic-darchinyan-vs-nonito-donaire_sport

Vetyeka vs. John:

• [yt]s02p-bhefv8[/yt]

 

...subscribing no doubt to some ironclad logic along the lines of "Donaire is famous and I've never heard of Vetyeka, ergo....derp derp..."


That worked out so brilliantly for the casuals in Chambers vs. Mchunu, Arce vs. Mijares, Ortiz vs. Maidana, Prescott vs. Crawford, etc...