Donaire has the size and power, but Rigondeaux’s body punching could bring him down to earth

By Boxing News - 03/15/2013 - Comments

donaire22By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) unquestionably is the larger and stronger fighter compared to the WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s).

We’re talking about fighters that appear to be fighting in different weight classes, as Donaire looks more like a light welterweight now after he rehydrates, whereas Rigondeaux is a true super bantamweight even after rehydrating. He doesn’t come into his fights weighing much more than the 122 lb. limit.

Okay, so Donaire, 5’7”, is going to have a tremendous size and considerable power advantage against the smaller, lighter 5’4” Rigondeaux when the two fighters meet up for their unification bout on April 13th at the Radio City Music Hall, in New York, New York.

However, Donaire’s weight, weight and power advantage will be useless to him if Rigondeaux is able to find his soft midsection. If there’s one area of Donaire’s game where he’s totally unprotected and can be hurt it’s to the body.

You only have to take one look at Donaire’s soft-looking midsection to know that it probably won’t be able to stand up to getting hit hard by Rigondeaux’s fast and powerful left hand shots.

In this case it doesn’t matter that Donaire may be sporting a 15 pound or more weight advantage when the two fighters step inside the ring on April 13th, because Rigondeaux won’t need that extra weight in order to hurt the Filipino with a knife-like left hand to the body.

Donaire’s past opponents have a huge mistake by not aiming their punches to his body. For some reason they’ve all pretty much been head hunters of to this point, and I guess it’s lucky for Donaire he’s had it like that because he might have a lot more defeats on his record if he were tested to the body the way that Rigondeaux will be testing him in this fight.

I really won’t be surprised at all if Donaire hits the canvas within the first two rounds of their fight and can’t get back up once Rigondeaux hits him hard with a body shots. That’s the thing about Rigondeaux. You don’t expect his knockouts.

They’re so sudden that boxing fans and his opponents just never see it coming until it’s there. I think Donaire won’t be able to recover from a Rigondeaux body shot that puts him down on the canvas.



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