Nonito Donaire found himself in the ring with a quicker opponent Saturday and ended up losing a unanimous decision to Guillermo Rigondeaux in New York. The scorecards read 116-111, 115-112, 114-113.
Although Donaire (31-2) came on in the seventh through10th rounds, knocking Rigondeaux down with a left hook in the 10th, the Cuban left-hander outgunned Donaire in the final two rounds. A left to Donaire?s right eye at the outset of the 12th round bothered the ?Filipino Flash? and hindered his final chance to score the knockout he apparently needed to win.
By the third round at Radio City Musical Hall, it was clear Donaire would have to be the slugger to overcome Rigondeaux?s ability to beat him to the punch with either hand. It turned out that Rigondeaux (12-0) was the more effective boxer from outside throughout the fight, the opposite of what might have been supposed going in, and Donaire could not get close to Rigondeaux very often.
Donaire, who lost his WBO junior featherweight title to Rigondeaux, seemed to be acclimating himself to the WBA super-bantamweight champ?s power in hopes of walking through it in the later rounds and simply overpowering the shorter man.
There were some who thought it was a close fight all the way, but HBO?s crew didn?t think Nonito won any round but the 10th. I had him winning the fifth by virtue of one huge left hook, so when he won four of the next five rounds and scored a knockdown, he conceivably pulled ahead in a fight that was presenting the overall impression that Rigondeaux was winning.
But Rigondeaux deserved the decision, and he proved it throughout the fight and certainly in the final two rounds.
?I made him look the way he looked,? Rigondeaux said. ?He looked bad. I was moving, moving, and he was frustrated.?
Rigondeaux?s retort to the accusation that he moved too much and punched too little was that Donaire did a lot less.
?With one shot, you don?t win a fight.?
Donaire thought he was going to win with one shot. He admitted he?s been too enamored of his own power recently and indeed expected to find a way to impose it as the fight progressed. He needed to increase the volume instead of looking for one big shot.
?It was my mistake for not changing up,? Donaire admitted, although he did equivocate about the difficulty imposed by reaching the 122-pound weight limit and braving a shoulder injury he said has plagued him his past three fights.
?But no excuses. He beat me tonight. We?ve got to go back to the drawing board and do better.?
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