One of the worst nightmares a boxer can encounter in the ring is facing a taller opponent with a good left hook. And unless you are as good as southpaw Manny Pacquiao, facing ?left hookers? could end up as picnics.
In the heavyweight division, the left hook has excellently served smaller fighters like Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier, who all stand below 6 feet. So what if a taller fighter for a division is a master of the left hook?
Over the weekend, Nonito Donaire proved that his deadly left hook was still there by knocking out Stephon Young (18-2-3 with 7 knockouts) during the bantamweight (118 pounds) semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) held over the weekend.
Donaire (39-5 with 26 KOs) was supposed to face Zolani Tete (28-3 with 21 KOs) for the WBSS bantamweight semifinal series, but the South African pulled out because of an injury. Tete from South Africa is the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion, while Donaire holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) Super World Bantamweight and the World Boxing Council Diamond Bantamweight titles.
With Donaire entering the WBSS bantamweight finals, fan interest is starting to build on the Filipino possibly facing Japanese knockout artist Naoya Inoue (17-0 with 15 KOs), who is the WBA world bantamweight titlist. Inoue would be facing Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodriquez (19-0 with 12 KOs), the International Boxing Federation world bantamweight champion, in the other WBSS semifinals for the division.
Now, the more salivating fight for the WBSS bantamweight finals would definitely be Donaire vs Inoue, as the Japanese has a more fearsome persona, taking into account his knockout power.
But at 5?4?, Inoue must deal with the height advantage of Donaire and the Filipino?s left hook. And that is where things could get interesting.
Donaire is usually listed at 5?7.5? but still looks taller than that, judging from his fight against the 5?5? Young and the 5?4? Ryan Burnett of the UK (19-1 with 9 KOs), whom the Filipino beat by a strange stoppage in the WBSS bantamweight semifinals.
And while Inoue may be able to stop or mow down bantamweights, Donaire is not really a bantamweight, having fought as high as featherweight (126 pounds). The Filipino even looked like a full-blown featherweight in his fights against Young and Burnett, which should not be surprising given today?s weigh in rules. Fighters are usually weighed 48 hours before a bout, giving them enough time to rehydrate and gain weight before the actual fight. And under that protocol, the bigger fighter could pack more weight over 48 hours to tip the scales one to two weight divisions higher for the actual fight.
Smaller fighters who could not add more weight are usually at a disadvantage under the present weigh in rules, unless you are Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Inoue is not Pacquiao or Mayweather.
So if the Donaire-Inoue fight materializes, the Filipino could have the weight and size advantage on fight night. And if Donaire?s left hooks find their range, Inoue could be in trouble. Donaire could also be very good in employing the ?check hook,? or a left hook thrown against a charging opponent. And the check hook is among the best weapons of taller fighters against smaller opponents. And one of the maestros of the check hook is Mayweather, who used it excellently against fighters who were less taller than him.
So what am I batting at?
This early, Inoue, with his impressive knockout power and streak, and his being about a decade younger than Donaire, has been tipped by some fight observers to defeat the Filipino if they meet in the WBSS finals for 118 pounds. This was also my belief months back when the bantamweight WBSS series kicked off.
But after closely watching his last two fights, it may be even unfair that Donaire was asked to take part in the WBSS bantamweight tournament, as his loss against Carl Frampton (26-2 with 15 KOs) for the WBO world bantamweight title showed he can take the best shots from a champion in the 126-pound ranks. And while he lost to Frampton, Donaire was able to rock his opponent on a few occasions, also with left hooks.
There are criticisms Young was a no-name opponent while Burnett was still too raw. But let us not discount the fact that those two fights acclimatized Donaire anew at bantamweight and did drain him, giving him a chance to train more intensely for a possible fight against Inoue.
Also, the left hook Donaire landed on Young in the sixth round was very vicious, knocking out his opponent cold. It also proved that the left hook is the nightmare of fighters facing taller opponents.
So imagine the result if the left hook of Donaire, which carries the power of a featherweight, lands consistently on the smaller Inoue?
Things are definitely getting very interesting from here.
