In this weekends stand out fight we see Filipino born American based pound-for-pound fighter Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20) face off against against former Cuban amateur legend Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8) in a unification of the WBO and WBA titles and a bout to decide who truly is the top dog at Super Bantamweight.
Going in to the bout Rigondeaux is the betting under-dog despite having an amazing career as both an amateur and a professional. In fact as an amateur Rigondeaux's will go down as one of the all time greats. He fought around 400 amateur fights and was rumoured to have won 388 of them, which included numerous bouts in Olympics and World Amateur champions, in fact Rigondeaux claimed 2 Olympic gold medals and two World Amateur titles as he dominated the Bantamweight division in the unpaid ranks.
As a professional Rigondeaux has been fast tracked, partly due to his amateur credentials but also partly due to the fact he made his professional debut when he was 28 years old. The speed of Rigondeaux's rise to the top was amazing and within just 18 months of his debut he had already claimed the interim WBA Super Bantamweight title. After a solitary defense of the interim belt Rigondeaux claimed the "regular" title thanks to a victory over Rico Ramos and he has since defended his title twice.
Despite his stellar record and amazing skills Rigondeaux has numerous question marks over his durability as a professional. Although he has only been down once as a professional (thanks to Ricardo Cordoba) he has been rattled several times including in his last fight against the limited Robert Marroquin. It's fair to say that Donaire hit's as hard, if not harder, than both Cordoba and Marroquin but he's also not the sort of fighter who will let a hurt opponent recover with out applying some serious pressure.
Sure Rigondeaux can hurt fighters, especially with his body shots which are amongst the best in the sport right now but the big questions regarding his chin specifically are the big worries.
With Donaire we have an exceptional fighter. Sure the 30 year old lacks the amateur pedigree of Rigondeaux but his professional achievements speak for themselves. Not only is record excellent at 31-1 but he's also unbeaten in 30 bouts (losing only his second professional contest) spread over 12 years which have seen him claiming world titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. He has also been given accolades including "Fighter of the Year" as he's proven to be one of the sports premier fighters.
Over the past 6 years Donaire's record has spoke for it's self with victories over a real who's who of the sport including Vic Darchinyan, Moruti Mthalane, Hernan Marquez, Fernando Montiel, Omar Andres Narvaez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Jeffrey Mathebula, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce. It's little wonder that the "Filipino Flash" is so highly ranked, especially when you consider the manner of many of his victories which he has made look very easy.
Despite the fact that Donaire has scored some exceptional victories over top contenders other opponents have made Donaire look bad. For example Narvaez, Mthalane and Vazquez all frustrated Donaire despite losing. These men have shown that Donaire isn't a perfect fighter and where an opponent uses an intelligent defense they can annoy Donaire who appears to be a flat out counter puncher and struggles to force the action, this could certainly come in to play against Rigondeaux.
If Rigondeaux can frustrate Donaire with refusal to engage and his own counter punching and speed he does have a genuine chance of the upset here though he'll need to make sure Donaire can't tag him clean.
For me personally the key to this bout concerns who can be the most patient. I don't imagine this will be a classic but it should be a high speed chess match with both men looking for a gap for their sharp, technically beautiful shots. Neither man will be looking to open up too much but both will be looking to land. Whilst I think Rigondeaux will cope better with the boos that I expect we'll hear I just can't see him avoiding Donaire's power right through the bout and when he's hurt Donaire won't let im off the hook.
Prediction-Donaire TKO7
Showing posts with label Nonito Donaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonito Donaire. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Nonito Donaire v Jorge Arce
A week after Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao got starched by Mexican multi-weight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, we get another high profile Filipino v Mexican fight as Nonito Donaire (?-?) defends his WBO Bantamweight title against multi-weight world champion Jorge Arce (?-?). Whilst many are viewing this as forgone conclusion it's fair to say that it'll be fun to watch as neither man is often in a poor bout with one of them being known as a KO artist whilst the other is a blood and guts warrior.
Going into the bout Donaire is a big betting favourite (priced around 1/8) and with good reason having looked like a fighter who has been in cruise control in his his recent victories over solid competition such as Toshiaki Nishioka (TKO9), Jeffrey Mathebula (UD12) and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (some how scored an SD12). Despite his victories there has been questions asked about whether Donaire actually is in cruise control or is actually not as spectacular as once though and whether or not the 30 year old Filipino born fighter is actually on the slide himself against opponents who were there to make him look good.
At his best Donaire is a hard hitting, swift accurate counter puncher who can fight either as an orthodox fighter or as a southpaw. With that ability he's managed to score highlight reel KO's over the likes of Fernando Montiel and Vic Darchinyan. Sadly however those victories seem a long time ago with Donaire's "cruise control" victories over the much smaller Omar Andres Narvaez, the limited Wilfredo Vazquez Jr and the very clumsy Jeffrey Mathebula.
Despite starting his career as a Flyweight, Donaire is still very capable in terms of his speed and power all the way up at Super Bantamweight, with the likely result of this fight seeing him move up to Featherweight for his next bout. Seen as a genuinely top pound-for-pound fighter Donaire, when he steps through the gears is a special fighter, though when he's fighting with in himself he looks awfully over-rated and unspectacular.
Like the champion, the challenger, Jorge Arce has gone through the weights having first won a world title way down at Light Flyweight and having also claimed versions of various titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. Although several of those titles were "interim" titles he is the first Mexican to have any claim to being a 5-weight world champion.
Although Arce is just 3 years older than the champion he's a very old 33 having not had 402 professional rounds, but also a career that dates back to 1996 and has featured more wars than your typical history book. It goes with out saying that Arce's wars have taken their toll on him and it's incredibly rare to see an Arce bout that doesn't see the Mexican left with claret pouring out of his face. Sadly the damage doesn't seem to have forced Arce to tighten up his defense as he attempts to draw everyone in to a battle of attrition, sometimes it works (such as 2011's 12 round TKO over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr) and sometimes it doesn't (as shown in an 11th round TKO loss to Vic Darchinyan).
Due to the fact Arce likes to come to fight I imagine this may not go the distance. Although Donaire is a big favourite, it's possible that Arce can wear him down if he can cut the distance and keep on Donaire's chest neutralising his deadly counter hooks. Sadly for Arce, one of my favourite fighters over the years, I don't think he can cut the distance with out being tagged by bombs on the way in.
Prediction-Nonito Donaire TKO6
Going into the bout Donaire is a big betting favourite (priced around 1/8) and with good reason having looked like a fighter who has been in cruise control in his his recent victories over solid competition such as Toshiaki Nishioka (TKO9), Jeffrey Mathebula (UD12) and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (some how scored an SD12). Despite his victories there has been questions asked about whether Donaire actually is in cruise control or is actually not as spectacular as once though and whether or not the 30 year old Filipino born fighter is actually on the slide himself against opponents who were there to make him look good.
At his best Donaire is a hard hitting, swift accurate counter puncher who can fight either as an orthodox fighter or as a southpaw. With that ability he's managed to score highlight reel KO's over the likes of Fernando Montiel and Vic Darchinyan. Sadly however those victories seem a long time ago with Donaire's "cruise control" victories over the much smaller Omar Andres Narvaez, the limited Wilfredo Vazquez Jr and the very clumsy Jeffrey Mathebula.
Despite starting his career as a Flyweight, Donaire is still very capable in terms of his speed and power all the way up at Super Bantamweight, with the likely result of this fight seeing him move up to Featherweight for his next bout. Seen as a genuinely top pound-for-pound fighter Donaire, when he steps through the gears is a special fighter, though when he's fighting with in himself he looks awfully over-rated and unspectacular.
Like the champion, the challenger, Jorge Arce has gone through the weights having first won a world title way down at Light Flyweight and having also claimed versions of various titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. Although several of those titles were "interim" titles he is the first Mexican to have any claim to being a 5-weight world champion.
Although Arce is just 3 years older than the champion he's a very old 33 having not had 402 professional rounds, but also a career that dates back to 1996 and has featured more wars than your typical history book. It goes with out saying that Arce's wars have taken their toll on him and it's incredibly rare to see an Arce bout that doesn't see the Mexican left with claret pouring out of his face. Sadly the damage doesn't seem to have forced Arce to tighten up his defense as he attempts to draw everyone in to a battle of attrition, sometimes it works (such as 2011's 12 round TKO over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr) and sometimes it doesn't (as shown in an 11th round TKO loss to Vic Darchinyan).
Due to the fact Arce likes to come to fight I imagine this may not go the distance. Although Donaire is a big favourite, it's possible that Arce can wear him down if he can cut the distance and keep on Donaire's chest neutralising his deadly counter hooks. Sadly for Arce, one of my favourite fighters over the years, I don't think he can cut the distance with out being tagged by bombs on the way in.
Prediction-Nonito Donaire TKO6
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Nonito Donaire v Toshiaki Nishioka
The solitary world title fight from this coming weekend sees multi-weight world champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18) defending both the WBO and IBF Super Bantamweight titles against the highly regarded Japanese veteran Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24), a former WBC Super Bantamweight champion.
The 29 year old Donaire is seen by many as one of the most talented fighters in the world due to his rise through weights from Flyweight all the way up to Super Bantamweight. Not only has Donaire moved through the weights effectively but he's also picked up a number of belts on his way as well as notable, and often eye catching victories.
Despite having debuted back in 2001, it was until 2007 that Donaire really started to become a boxing star, following his shock upset win the then unbeaten Vic Darchinyan to claim the IBF Flyweight title. Since then he has claimed the WBA "interim" Super Flyweight title, the WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles and, of course, the WBO and IBF Super Bantamweight titles.
Along the way Doanire has scored notable victories over Moruti Mthalane (the current IBF Flyweight champion), Hernan Marquez (the current WBA Flyweight champion), Volodymyr Sydorenko (former WBA Bantamweight champion), Fernando Montiel (the then WBC and WBO Bantamweight champion), Omar Andres Narvaez (the current WBO Super Flyweight champion), Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (former WBO Super Bantamweight champion) and Jeffrey Mathebula (the then IBF Super Bantamweight champion).
Despite his impressive record and list of victims, Donaire has had a lot of complaints, especially in recent fights. The victories over Darchinyan and Montiel were very, very impressive however the victories over Narvaez (a much, much smaller man), Vazquez (who had been stopped in his previous bout) and Mathebula (who looked shocking) have left many doubting Donaire who has started to look like a one trick pony. He has speed and is a fantastic counter puncher, one of the best counter punchers in the sport, especially with his left hook. The counter punching aside he's fast, he's slippery and he's a hurtful puncher. Sadly however Donaire, especially recently, doesn't seem to have a massive punch at Super Bantamweight, he doesn't appear hugely active and he appears to lack the ring intelligence that many claim he has. Despite a reputation as a massive puncher, his last 3 fights have gone the distance (and that includes the much smaller Narvaez) and he hasn't appeared able to really open opponents up like one would wish to see from a top fighter.
The challenger, Toshiaki Nishioka is the older man by far at 36 years old, and is the much more experienced fighter with 292 professional rounds (compared to 170 of Donaire) since 1994 however this may actually be one of his problems. Nishioka has been in hard fights, he's had the sort of bouts that take something out of a fighter and the sort that catch up on a man, especially when they are in their 30's.
The talented Southpaw first made a name for himself back home in 2000 when he attempted to claim the WBC Bantamweight title from Veeraphol Sahaprom. Although Nishioka came up short on that occasion (and 3 subsequent attempts at the legendary Thai) he did eventually break through in the wider boxing consciousness in 2008 when he defeated Napapol Sor Rungvisai for the "interim" WBC Super Bantamweight title (that was upgraded to the full title soon afterwards).
As the WBC Super Bantamweight champion Nishioka really proved himself as one of the sports top fighters as he defended his title 7 times beating the likes of Jhonny Gonzalez, Rendall Munroe and Raul Marquez. Sadly however Nishioka has been out of the ring for 12 months following the excellent victory over Marquez in America, in what was Nishioka's 3rd appearance in the US.
Despite being a Japanese based fighter, Nishioka has fought around the world, not only has he fought 3 times in the US but he has also fought in France and Mexico. Impressively Nishioka is 5-0 (4) away from his native homeland.
In terms of his style Nishioka is a very highly skilled southpaw. He moves well, he's tough (having suffered just a solitary, early career stoppage defeat), he's fast (surprisingly so for someone his age), he's accurate and he's hurtful even if he's not a monster puncher. However, as said above, he is 36 and he's been out of the ring for a year, a very long time for a fighter his age, and it may well be that this coming fight is more about Nishioka collecting a retirement payment than a real attempt at decrowning Donaire.
If, both men were at their very best, I'd certainly take Nishioka to beat Donaire. Sadly, as mentioned several times, Nishioka is 36, he has been inactive, and he has been in tough bouts as well as the fact he'll be fighting away from home. This bout, sadly like a number of Donaire's bouts, has been stacked in his favour to the extent that it's not the match up it perhaps should have been. It's a very cynical match up by Top Rank promotions and one that too many fans don't seem to have seen through.
Despite loving Nishioka, he can't win this, he's been picked as a well respected, though not prime "patsy". I expect he'll try, but he won't find things as easy as he did a few years ago, Donaire won't look great but I do imagine he'll score a late stoppage against a very old looking Nishioka who'll struggle to get his timing down.
Prediction-Donaire TKO10
The 29 year old Donaire is seen by many as one of the most talented fighters in the world due to his rise through weights from Flyweight all the way up to Super Bantamweight. Not only has Donaire moved through the weights effectively but he's also picked up a number of belts on his way as well as notable, and often eye catching victories.
Despite having debuted back in 2001, it was until 2007 that Donaire really started to become a boxing star, following his shock upset win the then unbeaten Vic Darchinyan to claim the IBF Flyweight title. Since then he has claimed the WBA "interim" Super Flyweight title, the WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles and, of course, the WBO and IBF Super Bantamweight titles.
Along the way Doanire has scored notable victories over Moruti Mthalane (the current IBF Flyweight champion), Hernan Marquez (the current WBA Flyweight champion), Volodymyr Sydorenko (former WBA Bantamweight champion), Fernando Montiel (the then WBC and WBO Bantamweight champion), Omar Andres Narvaez (the current WBO Super Flyweight champion), Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (former WBO Super Bantamweight champion) and Jeffrey Mathebula (the then IBF Super Bantamweight champion).
Despite his impressive record and list of victims, Donaire has had a lot of complaints, especially in recent fights. The victories over Darchinyan and Montiel were very, very impressive however the victories over Narvaez (a much, much smaller man), Vazquez (who had been stopped in his previous bout) and Mathebula (who looked shocking) have left many doubting Donaire who has started to look like a one trick pony. He has speed and is a fantastic counter puncher, one of the best counter punchers in the sport, especially with his left hook. The counter punching aside he's fast, he's slippery and he's a hurtful puncher. Sadly however Donaire, especially recently, doesn't seem to have a massive punch at Super Bantamweight, he doesn't appear hugely active and he appears to lack the ring intelligence that many claim he has. Despite a reputation as a massive puncher, his last 3 fights have gone the distance (and that includes the much smaller Narvaez) and he hasn't appeared able to really open opponents up like one would wish to see from a top fighter.
The challenger, Toshiaki Nishioka is the older man by far at 36 years old, and is the much more experienced fighter with 292 professional rounds (compared to 170 of Donaire) since 1994 however this may actually be one of his problems. Nishioka has been in hard fights, he's had the sort of bouts that take something out of a fighter and the sort that catch up on a man, especially when they are in their 30's.
The talented Southpaw first made a name for himself back home in 2000 when he attempted to claim the WBC Bantamweight title from Veeraphol Sahaprom. Although Nishioka came up short on that occasion (and 3 subsequent attempts at the legendary Thai) he did eventually break through in the wider boxing consciousness in 2008 when he defeated Napapol Sor Rungvisai for the "interim" WBC Super Bantamweight title (that was upgraded to the full title soon afterwards).
As the WBC Super Bantamweight champion Nishioka really proved himself as one of the sports top fighters as he defended his title 7 times beating the likes of Jhonny Gonzalez, Rendall Munroe and Raul Marquez. Sadly however Nishioka has been out of the ring for 12 months following the excellent victory over Marquez in America, in what was Nishioka's 3rd appearance in the US.
Despite being a Japanese based fighter, Nishioka has fought around the world, not only has he fought 3 times in the US but he has also fought in France and Mexico. Impressively Nishioka is 5-0 (4) away from his native homeland.
In terms of his style Nishioka is a very highly skilled southpaw. He moves well, he's tough (having suffered just a solitary, early career stoppage defeat), he's fast (surprisingly so for someone his age), he's accurate and he's hurtful even if he's not a monster puncher. However, as said above, he is 36 and he's been out of the ring for a year, a very long time for a fighter his age, and it may well be that this coming fight is more about Nishioka collecting a retirement payment than a real attempt at decrowning Donaire.
If, both men were at their very best, I'd certainly take Nishioka to beat Donaire. Sadly, as mentioned several times, Nishioka is 36, he has been inactive, and he has been in tough bouts as well as the fact he'll be fighting away from home. This bout, sadly like a number of Donaire's bouts, has been stacked in his favour to the extent that it's not the match up it perhaps should have been. It's a very cynical match up by Top Rank promotions and one that too many fans don't seem to have seen through.
Despite loving Nishioka, he can't win this, he's been picked as a well respected, though not prime "patsy". I expect he'll try, but he won't find things as easy as he did a few years ago, Donaire won't look great but I do imagine he'll score a late stoppage against a very old looking Nishioka who'll struggle to get his timing down.
Prediction-Donaire TKO10
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