I just read an article where a boxing writer said that Nonito Donaire was exposed by Omar Narvaez. Really? Did I read that right? There were two things exposed last night, and it wasn’t Nonito Donaire. The first thing exposed last night was the fact that Donaire had a very good fighter in front of him last night. Narvaez is one hell of a fighter and his defense would give any fighter some difficulty. The second thing that was exposed last night was the fact that what we saw last night is probably what we will see if Manny Pacquiao fights Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Styles make fights folks. Donaire was not exposed by Narvaez, in fact on the contrary. Donaire showed last night why he’s so good. He had a guy in Narvaez in front of him unwilling to engage much. He had a guy in front of him that utilized excellent defense yet chose not to mix it up. Donaire fought a smart fight, and he did what he could Vs. a guy that chose the safe way out.
All of these people talking about Donaire losing star power or losing fans because of last night’s fight need their heads examined. It’s either that or learn the sport of boxing before talking about the sport of boxing.
If and when Pacquiao fights Floyd Mayweather we will see a similar fight. Pacquiao will try to come forward and engage and a lot of his punches will be slipped or blocked. Mayweather will more than likely look to counter and he will use his superb defense. Mix that up in a bottle and you have a technical rather boring fight, just like we had last night with Donaire Vs. Navarez. It doesn’t mean that one fighter exposed another fighter. All it means is that there were two fighters in the ring with opposite styles.
Every world champion that has ever lived has had one of those fights where the style of his opponent created some issues. It happens to the best of them. Donaire showed last night exactly why he’s near the top of the list of pound for pound fighters. Last night he had to use his head more than he had to use his fists. He fought a very smart fighter with exceptional defensive skills and one mistake could have been a game changer. Even Donaire’s coach Garcia was instructing him to use caution and to be very careful.
Donaire fought one of his best fights so far. Yes I know, I know, there were no spectacular knockouts, and there were no knockdowns, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good fight. The sweet science showed up last night, and Donaire was the professor.
