By Allan Fox: Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KO’s) may have met his match last night in losing his WBO super bantamweight title to the faster and better skilled Cuban fighter WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision, but that doesn’t mean that Donaire can’t still be a money fighter for his promotional company Top Rank.
What it does probably mean is that his promoter Bob Arum is going to have to start being selective in the types of opponents that he puts Donaire in with if he wants him to continue to bring in the green from his huge built in Filipino fan base.
Donaire’s fans will still back him and flock to see him in high numbers regardless of how outclassed he was last night by Rigondeaux, but they might not if Donaire continues to get schooled in the manner he was last night.
What Arum needs to do is start matching Donaire like he’s doing with his new Chinese star Zou Shiming by putting him in with guys that he’s dead certain that Donaire can beat and look good against. Arum can still make Donaire the next big Filipino money fighter and eventually take over for the aging Manny Pacquiao in that respect, but Arum is going to need to match Donaire like he’s doing with his star Shiming. Arum can’t put Shiming in with just anyone because the results would likely be disastrous for Shiming and Arum. He needs to look for the vulnerable guy and match him carefully. Arum needs to do the same with Donaire from now on and I think he can continue to bring in good cash for his Top Rank company.
It’s not a good thing that Donaire says he wants to move up to featherweight because that makes Arum’s job of selective matchmaking more difficult because there are some strong punchers in that division that could punish and possibly even knockout Donaire unless Arum skillfully maneuvers around them.
I wouldn’t advise putting Donaire in with Daniel Ponce De Leon or Evgeny Gradovich because those guys have good power and excellent chins, and they would force Donaire to fight a war that I don’t think he’s rugged enough to win. Arum should match Donaire against the light hitting Chris John because that’s a safe fight for Donaire and it would make a ton of money because John comes from Indonesia, a country right next door the Philippines. It’s a fight that makes a lot of sense in terms of money and safety for Donaire.
Donaire is going to need to train differently from now on if he wants to continue to bring in the good cash for Top Rank. There’s talk that his training sessions with trainer Robert Garcia took place mostly over the phone and that he was self-trained.
Donaire also admitted that he didn’t study Rigondeaux’s fights in preparing for this fight. Donaire can’t afford to keep doing that if he wants to continue to be a marketable fighter. He must get a trainer that he spends time with and he also needs to study his opponents or have a trainer that can study his opponents for him so that he can work on a good plan of attack.
Perhaps Donaire needs a strategy guy like trainer Freddie Roach because he’s the best in the business in coming up with a game plan for his fighters to win.
Donaire is still good enough to beat most of the featherweights in the division, but probably not all of them. If Arum wants to keep the money flowing in with Donaire he has to match him like he’s doing with Shiming by looking for vulnerable guys and then putting him in with them.
We learned last night that Donaire doesn’t have the talent to beat everybody and Arum just needs to figure out who the guys are at featherweight that Donaire needs to avoid.
It would be a good idea for Arum to not let Donaire fight Rigondeaux ever again, even if Donaire begs him. If Arum makes that match then it’s another guaranteed loss for Donaire. In watching that fight last night it’s pretty clear that Donaire will never have the talent to beat Rigondeaux, and unless Arum just wants to cash out with Donaire, he needs to keep him far, far away from him for the rest of his career.
It’s okay if Arum and Donaire name drop Rigondeaux’s name every once in a while to give the illusion that they’re not running from him, but they shouldn’t fight him again because that would result in another loss for Donaire.
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