TODAY, four-time world champion Nonito Donaire (38-5, 24 KOs) will try one more time to salvage what’s left of his brilliant career when he takes on Ryan Burnett (19-0, 9 KOs) a, young undefeated British fighter.
The fight is part of the World Boxing Super Series and the WBA bantamweight title will be on the line.
THE FLASH. Truth be told, most critics still consider “The Filipino Flash” as a dangerous fighter, but one past his prime. At age 35, and with a 2-2 record in his last four fights, that’s probably a fair assessment.
In his last bout against Carl Frampton, he was outworked and lost via unanimous decision, but it was by no means a shutout. He was competitive and came on strong in the championship rounds, but lost fair and square to a fighter who was more tactical than him.
BURNETT. Burnett is practically unknown in the world stage owing to the fact that he has not faced top-caliber fighters in the division. He’s a boxer-puncher who relies on stamina and grit to get the work done.
Clearly, he’s doesn’t have the championship experience of Donaire and looks to be way in over his head against a four-division world champion. But the problem with these young, unknown fighters is that they tend to be osmotic.
Owing to their supreme conditioning and stamina, they tend to fight to the level of their opponents, absorbing what they can and dishing it out even harder.
That makes Donaire’s conditioning the crucial factor in this fight. How much does he have left?
I have said this before and I’ll say it again. Donaire’s decline in performance over the years has been brought on by his increasing reliance on power-punching.
Ever since he knocked the living daylights out of fighters like Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel, Donaire fell in love with the knockout punch and has looked to stop his opponents almost obsessively, sometimes pushing it instead of letting it come to him.
His punching output became exiguous as he became increasingly reliant on his vaunted left hook to save him. When that was not available, he got outboxed.
Burnett would be a good showcase fight for him. The kid shouldn’t be too hard to hit, but if he doesn’t fight smart he can very well lose this fight easily.
When that happens, I shudder to think that one of my favorite Pinoy fighters will possibly be relegated to gate-keeper status.
LAST ROUND. It’s on one of my best buddies, Marcelino Co who celebrates his birthday this week. Cheers!