By Chris Williams: In just finished watching the Nonito Donaire – Guillermo Rigondeaux press conference, and it’s clear as day why Donaire has been able to succeed at super bantamweight. Donaire is clearly a lightweight [135], and he should be fighting guys like WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner, Ricky Burns and Miguel Vazquez instead of melting down to fight little guys at 122.
Donaire is HUGE for super bantamweight. It’s like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who comes into his middleweight fights at 190 lbs. after making weight at 160. Donaire is huge for 122 lb. class, and that gives him a tremendous advantage over guys that actually fight at or near the 122 lb. division, like Rigondeaux.
Even though Donaire is going to have a big, big height and weight advantage over Rigondeaux on April 13th when the two fighters battle in New York, I think Rigondeaux can still win this fight because Donaire’s midsection is going to be right there for Rigondeaux to land his body shots.
Donaire’s gut is the perfect height for Rigondeaux to hit without having to reach down to land his shots and lose power. When you’re a big body puncher like Rigondeaux, you can generate a lot more power when you’re opponent’s midsection is closer to your shoulder level. Donaire looks like he’s close to 5’8”, and he’ll have around a three inch height advantage over the 5’4” Rigondeaux. That’s perfect for Rigondeaux to go to the midsection to see if he can stop Donaire. I don’t think Donaire can take it to the body.
Donaire says he’s not going to get hit with the kinds of counters that Rigondeaux lands against his other opponents, but I don’t see how Donaire is going to be able to avoid getting hit unless he chooses not to throw any punches. Even if he jabs, Rigondeaux can counter a jab.
The only way Donaire won’t get hit is if he doesn’t throw any punches, and just runs. I don’t think he’ll do that because he’s not react well to the New York crowd booing him. The New Yorkers like action fighters and it won’t look good if Rigondeaux is chasing Donaire around the ring.
As soon as Donaire starts to open, Rigondeaux is going to test his soft-looking midsection, and we may see Donaire hit the canvas. That’s the weakest area on Donaire’s body, his midsection. He doesn’t have a six-pack like normal fighters at 122, and in his last couple of fights, he’s had visible flab hanging off his midsection. I don’t think Donaire will be prepared to get hit by the kinds of body shots that Rigondeaux is going to be hitting him with, and it won’t matter if Donaire has a 15 to 20 pound weight advantage in this fight.
I’m just wondering why isn’t Donaire fighting guys near his own weight class like Adrien Broner? He’s clearly a lightweight and he should be fighting in that division. That would be scary to see Donaire facing Broner. I can’t see it going well for Donaire at all in bout against him, but then that’s probably he’s melting down to fight at 122. He’s got a big weight advantage over guys in that division.
Comments are closed.