By Chris Williams: Nonito Donaire’s 9th round knockout win over Vic Darchinyan has come at a huge price for Donaire, as he suffered a hairline fracture in his right orbital bone in the fight, according to Dan Rafael. The fracture was confirmed with an MRI. Donaire (32-2, 21 KO’s) saw two doctors about the problem with the first doctor advising surgery and the second one with the opinion that the fracture will heal on it’s own without surgery.
Rather than getting a 3rd and 4th opinion, Donaire has decided to take the gamble that the fracture will heal without surgery. The fracture, if it heals, could be healed by April or May. But if it turns out the second doctor was wrong by thinking that the fracture will heal on it’s own, then Donaire will need surgery to repair the problem, and he’ll have lost 6 months of wasted time. It seems like the smart thing for Donaire to have done would be to get multiple opinions on it rather than just two.
Donaire’s wife, Rachel, told ESPN “He had the exam and they said it was a fracture but they thought it could heal on it’s own. When we were in Corpus Christi, the doctor at the hospital after the fight said Nonito probably needed surgery but we wanted to wait and get a second opinion.”
When there’s two differing medical opinions the smart thing to do is to get more opinions. You don’t just stop at that point and go with what you prefer. I think Donaire is making a huge gamble by choosing to go with the second doctor’s opinion without having more doctors exam his fracture.
What this means as far as Donaire’s career goes is he’s not going to be fighting WBA featherweight title holder Nicholas Walters in January. Unless Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum can get Walkers to wait around until April or May to fight him, which is probably what will happen, then Donaire may have to face one of the dangerous featherweight champions instead like Jhonny Gonzalez or the winner of the Orlando Salido vs. Vasyl Lomachenko fight. I see all three of those fighters knocking Donaire out and battering him. Donaire can probably beat Walters though because he looks like someone that is still learning the trade and doesn’t look like a full-fledged champion despite holding down the WBA strap.
It could be bad for Donaire to come back against a puncher in his first fight after a fractured orbital bone if he gets nailed on the spot of the fracture.
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