Nonito Donaire finally got the fight he?s been spoiling for Saturday, and somehow the fact that Donaire was knocked out in the sixth round wasn?t that awful for him, even though it probably signified the end of his status as a truly elite pro boxer.
The guy who beat him, Nicholas Walters, is the real deal. He took several great shots from Donaire, but he also managed to get in a little uppercut Donaire couldn?t see in the third round that knocked Nonito to his knees and established Donaire as the underdog in the fatherweight championship bout in Carson, Calif., airing on HBO.
Walters (25-0, 21 knockouts) used his long reach and a professional left jab to outbox Donaire in the fourth and fifth rounds, wounding both of the Filipino Flash?s eyes, and Donaire (33-3), the five-division champion from the East Bay, had only a puncher?s chance to win the fight entering the sixth round.
As Donaire was winging errant power shots, Walters caught him with a right to the side of the head that knocked Donaire prone, and Nonito was staggering to his feet at the count of nine when referee Raul Caiz Jr. signaled the end.
Maybe he?s just overmatched at featherweight. ?I thought I?d be good in this weight class, said Donaire, who as a dominating flyweight towered over his opponents in a man-against-boy manner and even seemed large against 122-pounders.
But he was the smaller guy against Walters and couldn?t overcome it.
?I was at my best,? Donaire said, yet ?the size he had over me, I couldn?t move. He overwhelmed me and knocked the (stuffing) out of me.?
Walters admitted he was as stunned as he looked at the end of the second round when Donaire landed the counter left hook while cornered. ?I got overconfident and he caught me pretty good. He caught me very, very clear.
?He was good,? Walters exclaimed. ?I enjoyed this fight.?
A lot of people probably did. Donaire may be more marketable, not less, with this defeat, as he came to fight an uphill fight and he made it interesting. But now he?s going to be careful about getting overmatched, possibly even returning to 122.
He said, ?I know that I can?t compete with guys like Walters.?
