By Chris Williams: With his career no longer looking as promising as it once did two years ago when he was voted in as the 2012 Fighter of the Year, Nonito Donaire (32-2, 21 KO’s) will be stepping up against his first real featherweight in WBA Super World featherweight champion Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-2, 16 KO’s) this Saturday night at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
Donaire comes into the fight an underdog against Vetyeka largely due to how poor Donaire looked in his loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux and in his fight against Vic Darchinyan, a fight in which Donaire took a beating and was en route to losing it at the time he pulled out a 9th round stoppage.
Donaire’s father has him using movement with a focus on speed. Donaire will likely be using some of the bouncing around that used to employ earlier in his career before he reached his 30s and began to slow down. I’m not sure that Donaire can use movement for more than a round or two without needing to stop for a rest. He’s simply not the young fighter he once was, and that’s why it seems useful for him to be attempting to recapture skills that are no longer there for him. Donaire is a mature fighter now with slower hand speed, and less of an ability to move.
“It’s been a long time since I entered the ring as an underdog but that has inspired me more,” Donaire said. “I let things I worked hard to achieve slip through my fingers last year. I want to return to where I was in 2012 and go beyond that for the remainder of my boxing career.”
Donaire can’t go back to 2012 because he’s older now, and he’s fighting much, much better opposition than the guys he feasted on to win the Fighter of the Year award in 2012. To get that award, Donaire beat Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Jeffrey Mathebula, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce. Nishioka and Arce were shot fighters for the most part.
Mathebula was nothing special, and Vazquez Jr. was a guy that little Jorge Arce had knocked out. In other words, Donaire had beaten guys that he and likely most top 15 contenders would have all beaten as well if they were matched against them. I don’t know that Donaire deserved the aware in 2012 based on the weak opposition he faced to get it.
Unless Donaire moves continuously on Saturday night, he’s going to get beaten up and end up getting stopped. Vetyeka has too much power for him to deal with, and I see it going bad for Donaire.
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