Which fight, in your opinion, marked the end of Nonito Donaire's prime ? We know he reached his limits at 126 lbs against Nicholas Walters. But which fight left the biggest mark on him? You think that at his peak he would have beaten Inoue, Seiya Tsutsumi, and Alexandro Santiago? Considering how much trouble they already had against an older Nonito Donaire?
Peak Donaire may have fought more against Inoue in their 1st fight and that couldve made for a more violent and possibly shorter affair. Not that Nonito boxed and moved against Naoya, but he fought more calculated and picked his spots. Younger Donaire gambled with exchanges more. A coin flip each time out.
I think he would've beaten Inoue. Donaire had a strange career with many ups and downs. Very difficult to pin down a true high water mark. The Rigo fight was tough for him emotionally and is probably the best fight to point at as the beginning of his decline. I think he was p4p #2 leading into it.
Donaire himself admits that he stopped caring as much about his career after the Toshiaki Nishioka win and stopped training as hard or as focused as he did prior to beating Nishioka.
Really? Why? I’d say he’s probably the weakest name among those who beat him in his career. It’s true that Alexander Santiago drew with Jerwin Ancajas, but I didn’t find anything particularly special about him.
I didn’t know Donaire had said that! What I do know is that he told Riku Masuda that he was lucky he doesn’t have his legs anymore, and that despite beating him, he wasn’t impressed by him because he’s easy to counter, slow, and predictable in his combinations.
I think younger Nonito Donaire is probably the only Flyweight of the decade 2000-2010 who can beat at 100% Estrada, Chocolatito, Kazuto Ioka, and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
Sorry I was an idiot typing that, Donaire would of beat Santiago easily, I just said it in a backwards way