By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KO’s) injured left hand turned out to have no broken bones upon being checked out by an MRI on the hand according to RingTV.

The only problem Donaire had was a ruptured vein in his left hand, which was caused by the wrap over his hand rubbing against the glove when he would throw punches in his win over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. last Saturday night. If Donaire was smart, he’d give up on the idea of fighting at super bantamweight and especially give up on fighting at featherweight. He’ll get beat once he faces quality opposition like Rigondeaux, Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Orlando Salido. They’ll not only beat him, but they shorten his career. He’s better off moving back down to flyweight and super flyweight and be happy with the fights he can scrounge in those weight classes.

Donaire thinks he may have injured his hand as early as the 2nd round. The vein will heal up on it’s own with rest by Donaire.

Donaire was moving up in weight for the Vazquez Jr. fight and he failed to win as impressively as he had in the past in the lighter weights. Even before he injured his hand between the 2nd and fourth rounds, Donaire simply didn’t look like a huge puncher at super bantamweight.

He can hit hard, but he’s no longer the one punch knockout fighter he was at flyweight and super flyweight. He’s going to have to reconcile that with himself because if he tries to beat a much better fighter than Vazquez Jr. by looking for a one punch knockout, he’s going to have a lot of problems. He’ll get beat and if he tries that approach against Guillermo Rigondeaux and Toshiaki Nishioka, two of the best fighters in the super bantamweight division.

The hand excuse can be used this time for Donaire to explain his mediocre performance but he can’t keep going back to the same well for future fights. He’s can to have to man up sooner or later and admit that he’s not a puncher at this weight and will have to start throwing a lot more punches.

Without his power, Donaire’s fighting style isn’t entertaining. He does a lot of showboating but looks almost clownish given that he’s getting hit quite a lot and not throwing with massive power. The showboating stuff works when your Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Roy Jones Jr., who make guys miss, but Donaire just gets hit and looks silly.

Donaire is expected to fight 32-year-old Jorge Arce next. This is a winnable fight for Donaire because Arce, 5’4”, is smaller than Donaire like most of his opponents have been throughout his career and Arce’s best weight was at junior flyweight (108lbs). He’s gotten older and is fighting three divisions above that weight and is no longer the same fighter he once was. Donaire will win this fight but prove nothing other than he can beat another older and smaller fighter than him.