Boxing fans love knockouts. Seeing some poor sucker get laid out appeals to the brutal elements of our nature, and those of us who have dedicated much of our lives to following the noble art have long since gotten over feeling bad about the fact that we get off on watching a man beat down. Indeed as great American author Jack London put it, ?It is the ape and the tiger in us, but it is in us.? This love of violence that we all share as fight fans will likely cause many viewers to applaud Saturday night when Nonito Donaire obliterates Omar Narvaez on HBO. This time, however, this writer will not be one of the happy masses.
First things first though, Narvaez (35-0-2, 19 KOs) is no scrub. Despite being a natural flyweight, he is a skilled fighter, undefeated, and would likely give the average bantamweight belt-holder trouble. Nonito Donaire (26-1-0, 18 KOs) however, is light years beyond your average bantamweight champion. His main advantage comes from a freakish ability to make a weight that seems unnatural considering his frame. Donaire is so much stronger than his opponents at 118 pounds that even the great Fernando Montiel, thought by many to be the best bantamweight in the world before Donaire literally dented his skull earlier in the year, didn?t have a prayer.
When trying to find some historical comparison to Donaire in terms of a physical freak, soon to be Hall of Famer Tommy Hearns comes to mind. While it remains to be seen if Donaire can go up in weight and continue to fight at an elite level like Hearns did, Donaire from 112-118 has been similar to Hearns at 147. They both combined a great skill set with a freakish amount of size and strength relative to other fighters at their weight.
