Donaire’s dad wants Nonito to fight like he used to

By Boxing News - 04/28/2014 - Comments

donaire756 - CopyBy Chris Williams: In the last several fights, Nonito Donaire (32-2, 21 KO’s) has visibly slowed with his ability to get around the ring, and he’s now become something of a slow plodder with feet that look like they’re stuck in quick drying cement. First it was Guillermo Rigondeaux who made Donaire look bad in beating him easily last year, and then it was the 40ish Vic Darchinyan who gave Donaire a beating last November before tiring and getting stopped in the 9th.

Donaire’s dad wants him to start moving and dancing around the ring like he did during his best years in the ring, but it’s unclear whether the soon to be 32-year-old Donaire can do that.

Donaire has a fight on May 31st against WBA Super World featherweight champion Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-2, 16 KO’s) on May 31st at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Vetyeka is seen by some boxing fans to be the weakest of the four champions at featherweight, but Donaire is going to need to find his way back to his youth if he wants to avoid turning into another one of Vetyeka’s victims. Vetyeka recently stopped Chris John in the 6th round last December. Like Donaire, John had been a pretty mobile fighter during his career, but age hit him all of a sudden and Vetyeka was able to take advantage of it.

“He’s not dancing anymore, that’s what we want to bring back,” Donaire Sr. said. “We are working on it. I’d like him to come back like the young Nonito. Fortunately, he’s quick to remember those movements.”

Nonito tried to do a little dancing against Rigondeaux and Darchinyan, but he looked slow on his feet with heavy legs. I’ve seen the look before in aging fighters like Chad Dawson, and once fighters get like that, it’s rare that they become light on their feet again.

What Donaire Sr. is asking Nonito to do is to find Ponce de Leon’s fountain of youth, and I don’t think that’s possible. If Donaire was still light on his feet and able to spring around the ring like he once did, he would have been doing that in his fights. The last time I can remember seeing Donaire fight look really quick and fast on his feet was in his fight against the much smaller flyweight Manuel Vargas back in 2010. In Donaire’s fights since then, he’d gradually gotten slower and slower to the point here now kind of shuffles forward and backwards when he fights instead of bouncing around the ring.



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