By Dexter Reyes
This was one of those matches that only the true hardcore boxing fan could predict. The build up for Nonito Donaire vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux was enough to attract the casual boxing fan, especially the heavy promotion in the New York area holding it in the Radio City Music Hall. But if you asked a boxing purist about the outcome, not one would predict an all out action match up between two counter punchers, and they were correct the fight ended in a decision win for Rigondeaux who stayed true to his countering style in a snoozer.
We all know that when you pair two counter punchers against one another it becomes a game of patience and eventually one of them will break and try to take the lead and the one who takes the lead usually loses, and the one who broke from his mold was Nonito Donaire, and he paid the price playing right into Guillermo Rigondeaux’s game of hit and not get hit.
The entire fight was a boxing clinic, it wasn’t an action packed night, it was more of a sparring session not something to attract new boxing fans but it did give us what we wanted the best fighting the best, and sometimes when you pit the top two guys in the division you get a boring fight due to styles, just like when Timothy Bradley fought Devon Alexander, it was heavily promoted and both fighters tried to sell us an action night only for it to be more of a technical point fight, with Alexander later quitting from a cut over his eye. For a fight with this type of build up hoping to win new fans to boxing, it may have lost fans and left a sour taste in their mouth.
The pressure was on Donaire to bring the fight, he was billed as the next heir to the all out action packed Manny Pacquiao. What happened here was a man who wanted to put on a show for the fans versus a man who fought smart and didn’t care about winning a fanbase or being a superstar. Although Rigondeaux won the fight he didn’t win any fans, and in order to be a superstar in boxing you have to put it all on the line in order to draw the fans to comeback and watch you. I give all props to Guillermo Rigondeaux for beating Nonito Donaire, he proved he was the better boxer that night, but he also fought too cautious proving that he wasn’t willing to risk it all for greatness. If you want to see a great counter-puncher who is willing to go for the knockout and give an exciting fight watch someone like Juan Manuel Marquez, if you are a fan of the hit and not get hit style or need a cure for insomnia, Rigondeaux is the man for you.
