By Chris Williams: Nonito Donaire (33-3, 21 KOs) has given up on his idea of campaigning as a featherweight after tasting defeat at the hands of WBA featherweight champion Nicholas Walters last October in an embarrassing 6th round knockout loss. Donaire, 32, is now moving back down to super bantamweight where he previously held a title.
Donaire’s manager Cameron Dunkin believes that he’ll be able to win a world title at super bantamweight.
There’s only four pounds that separates the 122 pound division from the 126 pound division, and as bad as Donaire looked in his fights at featherweight against Walters, Vic Darchinyan and Simpiwe Vetyeka, it’s quite possible that Donaire will struggle in the same way he did at featherweight.
It could be that Donaire’s problems aren’t related to the weight division he fights at, but rather the creeping age that is starting to slow him down. He’s not moving like he used to and his hand speed has slowed as well. Before Donaire left the super bantamweight division, he was soundly whipped by Guillermo Rigondeaux in a one-sided fight.
“That’s what we are trying to do and he’s going to fight at 122,” Dunkin said via Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “We’ve talked about it but don’t know who we are going to fight yet. But Nonito wants to fight and we’ll get him fighting again. He knows he can’t fight at that weight [126 pounds]. He can beat a lot of featherweights, don’t get me wrong. But he’s used to beating everyone and being the best. He’s going back to 122 where he can do that.”
The guys that fight at featherweight could make super bantamweight and give Donaire the same problems if they wanted to. It’s not a weight issue. It’s the fact that Donaire is finally starting to face better opposition than he was brought up fighting all these years, and he’s getting exposed by these fighters.
If Donaire is going to find success at super bantamweight, he’s going to need to be matched well by his promoter Bob Arum.
The division isn’t the same one that Donaire left a year ago. Rigondeaux is still there, of course, but there are talented fighters like Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz holding down titles. Donaire’s chances of fighting Santa Cruz are slim due to him being an Al Haymon fighter, but Quigg and Frampton are possibilities. They’re also very dangerous because of their power, and they could potentially give Donaire just as many problems as Walters recently did.
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