It may have been a case of damn reality, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead, but the Amen Choir agreed that it was Rigondeaux?s fault that Donaire lost?
Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, in a fight broadcast live on HBO, former flyweight/bantamweight/super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KOs) returns to action against one-time victim Vic Darchinyan (39-5-1, 28 KOs).
It has been seven months since Donaire lost his WBO/WBA super bantamweight titles to Cuban maestro Guillermo Rigondeaux. Their fight at Radio City Music Hall was a defeat which few saw coming, and which even fewer seemed willing to acknowledge for what it was.
Rigondeaux showed up a top three pound-for-pounder that night. Rather than being celebrated as he deserved, El Chacal (The Jackal) was accused of being ?boring,? first by his promoter Bob Arum, and it was picked up by the press and spread around the internet like spam on day old toast. However unappetizing, however false that charge may have been, somehow or other it stuck. It may have been a case of damn reality, damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead, but the Amen Choir agreed that it was Rigondeaux?s fault, and his fault alone, that Donaire lost.
Saturday?s fight will be a rematch that has been six years in coming. When Donaire and Darchinyan first fought in July 2007, Donaire stopped the rugged Armenian in five rounds. But since then, there is as much water under the bridge as there have been punches in the ring. Donaire won his next 13 fights, nine by early stoppage, before the ostensible bump in the road that was Rigondeaux. By contrast, Darchinyan has gone 11-4-1 during the same time period and has lost two of his last four fights.
That is not to say that Darchinyan isn?t tough?they don?t get any tougher than Vic Darchinyan. But at the age of 37, on the downside of his career, with a telegraphed right and come-forward style that?s tailor-made for Donaire?s strengths, he ought to be easy pickings for the Filipino Flash, who needs to rebound and rebound big if he?s to remain, or hopes to regain being a marquee fighter.
The two fighters recently met with the press to discuss Saturday?s fight. Although many expect this showcase to be something of a mismatch, you?d never know if from the fighters? comments. Donaire, as usual, was his usual charming self. When he said, ?Vic is a very dangerous opponent and one I can?t overlook. Age does not matter when you have power,? it?s hard not to take him seriously. He spoke about his maturation as a fighter. He spoke about the first fight with the Raging Bull.
?We trained for that one punch,? said Donaire. ?We trained for the things that we knew he would do. We trained for his impatience and that?s what we showed. We worked on it and that?s how we were able to land the big punch. I was able to also hit him the third round with the same punch. So people that really understood and watched the fight?it was really set up, it just landed perfectly with that one punch that landed. But we can?t count on that. Vic has grown and he is ready for this fight.?
Darchinyan, of course, has his own thoughts on the matter.
?I have been waiting for this fight for six years,? he said. ?I trained good for this fight and I am very prepared. I don?t only have power. I have skills and I can?t wait to show the people. It doesn?t matter how old I am. There are many fighters older than I, like Martinez, Marquez and Hopkins.
?In 2007 there was the punch. I jumped and Nonito got me with the left hook. It was the only knockdown in my life, amateur or professional. Never been knocked down. I jumped up right away. If I take a couple of seconds on the floor to recover, maybe it would be a different outcome, you know? I had no experience with a knockdown. I was on the floor and I never experienced being on the floor in my life. Now it is good. I have experience with it and I will not make the mistake again.?
Donaire has had little to say about Rigondeaux, at least lately, which considering his post-fight remarks is probably for the best. But Darchinyan said, ?I think he was exposed in his loss to Rigondeaux. Rigondeaux showed his skills and exposed him. He showed Nonito he can work him out from angles, punch him, and I want to come and expose him [as well].?
Whether Darchinyan can expose Donaire the way Rigondeaux exposed Donaire remains to be seen. It?s hard to imagine two different types of fighters. But if history, no less than matchmaking, is any guide, the ready-to-rumble Darchinyan will put up one helluva fight, before walking into a punch he didn?t see coming.
