By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) hasn’t fought WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s), yet Donaire believes that Fernando Montiel and Abner Mares are tougher opponents than him.
At this point, Donaire is guessing because he doesn’t have any idea what it’s going to be like to face Rigondeaux until they meet up this Saturday night at the Radio City Music Hall, in New York, New York.
Donaire said to espn “I think Montiel is a much tougher fight. There are a lot of guys out there. I think [Abner] Mares is a tougher fight.”
Just so boxing fans know, Donaire knocked Montiel out in only two rounds two years ago in February 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Montiel never stood a chance and was knocked out by a left hook from Donaire.
As for Mares, Donaire hasn’t mixed it up with him yet, but he did turn down an offer from Golden Boy Promotions recently when they attempted to put the fight together. That fight will likely never happen due to Mares fighting for Golden Boy Promotions and having his fights televised on Showtime, while Donaire is with Top Rank and all his fights are shown on HBO.
Donaire can’t be serious if he actually believes that Montiel is a tougher fight than Rigondeaux. If Donaire really believes what he’s saying then perhaps his recent wins has gone to his head and made him cocky. This could be a really bad thing for Donaire since he could get hurt if he comes out swinging for the fences like he was in the Montiel fight. The way that Donaire fought Montiel would never work against a skilled defensive fighter with the power, speed and counter punching ability of Rigondeaux.
As soon as Donaire tries to throw his first big left hook, Rigondeaux would block it and go straight for his soft looking midsection and put Donaire down on the canvas. Donaire will have to change the way he fights completely because he can’t slug with Rigondeaux without paying the ultimate price by getting dropped with a hard body shot.
Montiel was a good fighter in his prime, but he’s slipped a lot. He was beaten by Victor Terrazas and he was almost beaten by a 12 fight novice by the name of Arturo Santos Reyes recently. Montiel and Rigondeaux are far apart in the talent department. Rigondeaux is way too good for Montiel and he’d knock him out quickly if a fight between them were to be made.
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