DONAIRE vs. RIGONDEAUX - FINAL PICKS

donaire should just move on. i see no point in a rematch. the fight i want to see now is Rigondeaux vs Mikey Garcia at 126. bet donaire gets garcia first tho.

 

yup

he is a true classic boxer. Marvelous skills. great feet, head movement, slipping, countering... textbook technique mixed with creativity and innate physical talent

 

I doubt that very much. Even when Manny has lost he's never been reduced to a plodder.

 

Donaire isn't even close to the fighter Pacquiao is. He doesn't deserve a rematch either.

 

Agreed on both counts.

 

Yeah, against an excellent, skilled counter puncher in Marquez, Pacquiao boxed with him in the 3rd fight, and outboxed him in the 4th before getting KTFO. Donaire is basic in comparison.

 

what are we talking about here?

pacquiao in 2003 or so wouldve been the one going against rigondeaux and his wild ass wouldve got picked apart. donaire was patient and chose to lose rounds rather than take chances and get beat up worse.

 

Donaire may have been knocked out if he was more wild but being a wild ass maybe would have given him a better chance at winning.

Barrera probably looked at Manny at the time like Donaire did at Rigo. Some danger, but easy money.

 

There is really no comparison between the two. Donaire when forced to lead is a basic plodder with no imagination, basic and predictable.

Pacquiao is a brutal offensive fighter coming forward, he's happy to lead, and he's very unpredictable.

 

The writers at ringside who thought it was a close fight were in someone's pocket.

Donaire won 2 rounds TOPS!

Props to Riggodeux on the beautiful master class! I enjoyed every moment of watching ole big earned get schooled.

 

You really needed TONIGHT to confirm that?

It should have been bloody obvious all along that Donaire never had Pac's talent.

Not gonna say Donaire got "exposed" tonight in sense that he's a fraud, but........ Donaire got exposed tonight. His defense holes, and his lack of the ring IQ HE thinks he has got exposed tonight.

Good fighter. Very good fighter, but overrated.

A few ripped me for saying Ward is better than Donaire, but now I think it's pretty obvious. Ward doesn't have the P4P power that Donaire has, but he's just overall a far better technician and higher quality fighter.

 

Agreed, I feel generous giving Donaire round 2, maybe it was just because Gondo didn't look as good as he did in round 1, more negative.

Even though I was pulling for Donaire, I enjoyed watching Gondo school him, partly for the great performance, and partly because Donaire's performance was pitiful. Gondo is a hell of a fighter. I knew he was good and skilled, but I was never wow'd by any of his previous fights. He was flawless tonight.

 

Of course not, I've never thought he was. I was responding to Neil, who seems to think because Gondo schooled Donaire, he'd also school Pacquiao ::

 

Yes. Truly flawless. Riggo proved me wrong tonight as well. Given the high stakes of this fight, and the quality opponent Donaire is, years from now we'll look back on this fight as one of the generations better master class schoolings.

 

Pac was still pretty raw at 122. He really didn't even begin to start putting together his amazing talent until the MAB fight. A fight that going in, NOBODY gave Pac a chance in.

I could envision Riggo beating Pac at 122.

Not so much at 126 though.

The problem for Riggo against Pac is that Manny, even in his more raw days, was simply a lot more dynamic and harder to figure out than Donaire. Plus, if we're talking about a young Pac, we're talking about a killer. FAAARRRR more killer instinct than big ears, and he wouldn't be just plodding around the ring all clueless.

 

what Donaire is is a terrific, bone-breaking counterpuncher

you come at him, you are in grave danger of waking up in the hospital

what he is not is a come-forward, pressure fighter... It just isn't his style, it is not how he sees the ring, not how he is wired... I don't even think there was a lack of effort... it was a lack of comfort, familiarity, know-how... he is not a guy that can cut off the ring, bob and weave his way in and keep his hands going to break a guy down. It is not the way he fights. Against a lesser opponent he could still find opportunities for those booming counter shots while coming forward... Against this fellow, it was not enough and it never would be. He could beat some guys if he had to fight out of the comfort zone. Against a fellow like this? No, it is too difficult for him to adapt to the degree needed.

Donaire is not the first great counterpuncher to look inept when confronted a master boxer making him lead... James Toney never could get a handle on guys who boxed him and stuck to the gameplan (Nunn did great for 6 rounds and then started to get more aggressive, allowing Toney's brilliant skills to become useful weapons) ... Harold Johnson found himself (to a far lesser extent than this, mind) frustrated by Willie Pastrano's dance-and-jab/dance-and-jab strategy... Carlos Ortiz ended Joe Brown's brilliant championship reign by refusing to take the lead (and the outcome was a whitewash like this one)

You can say Donaire was not serious enough, you could say he underestimated his opponent, but it doesn't matter. He lost big because he was up against a brilliant technician who forced him to do something he just isn't good at.

 

no doubt

a brilliant display

 

Pac specialized in being aggressive... Donaire is a counterpuncher... I much prefer Pacquaio's chances against Rigo than Donaire's... not to say Rigo couldn't beat him, but Pacquaio is not a guy uncomfortable chasing, it is what he thrives on (even moreso back then) ... Pac is still the hardest punching Junior Featherweight I have ever seen, on top of it and he is a southpaw, too

 

no way Donaire fights Garcia next, unless there's a serious falling out in the camp. They have trained many years together and have the same coach wich is Mikey's brother

 

I think Mikey Garcia would fuck Donaire up.

 

Yep. Good post.

This fight enhances my opinion of Rigo way more than it detracts from Donaire. The Cuban is just really fucking good.

 

A younger rigondeaux would have also been more dynamic and adjusted to the pro game in early 2000s. We missed out on what coulda been a spectacular career

 

Good call on this fight.

Who would you like to see Rigo night next?

 

This guy has the style to walk a young pacquiao into hard shots all night and frustrate him

 

Sux there is no one aggressive at feather with top rank to make him entertaining. Mares or Santa Cruz would be ideal. I vote for Mikey Garcia

 

Donaire don't even really train with Garcia. They may rethink that relationship and the fight can happen

 

Here is my pick from the other thread. Not too far from truth I think :dancingBaby:

 

All in all, I am surprised that so many people saw it close, some even thought Donaire could have gotten the nod. I don't know maybe I was mislead by HBO but I tried to watch it objectively and I had Rigondeaux about 9-3 or 10-2, I just thought he landed the cleaner shots and won most exchanges. Maybe it was his passiveness which some didn't like, but I though he won it clear

 

i cant explain the judges scoring or anyone who watched the same hbo feed as I did on tv. but a friend of mine was at the fight and had it 114-113 for rigondeaux. he knows boxing so i was shocked. must chock it up to him having a bad seat in a shitty theater venue.

 

rigo is probably the only fighter who i can be watching who impresses me and puts me to sleep. he could be a ko machine if he wanted to when he lets his hands go he does serious damage.