Nonito Donaire’s last fight in New York didn’t just lack action.
His 12-round victory over Omar Narvaez was such an aesthetic atrocity you’d be hard-pressed to find a fight fan who didn’t immediately eliminate it from his or her DVR. Donaire didn’t receive much blame for that dreadful, forgettable fight because an intimidated Narvaez refused to take any risks against the powerful “Filipino Flash.”
The previously unbeaten Argentine contender clearly came to The Theater at Madison Square Garden in October 2011 looking to survive 12 rounds and collect a check.
Donaire (31-1, 20 KOs), who has produced numerous memorable knockouts in recent years, still felt he let down fans who paid for tickets or watched the unbelievably boring bout on HBO. The WBO super bantamweight champion went as far as to say, “I owe New York a good fight,” on a conference call Tuesday.
Guillermo Rigondeaux, Donaire’s opponent Saturday night at Radio City Music Hall (11 p.m.; HBO), also promised to deliver an action-packed performance in their 12-round, 122-pound championship unification fight. But Rigondeaux (11-0, eight KOs), a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Cuba who has been criticized for being boring at times during his four-year pro career, must be careful against one of boxing’s most dangerous punchers.
“I will try to engage a lot more than I have in the past,” Rigondeaux, 32, said. “I want to give the fans what they want to see. Nonito’s an aggressive boxer. I’ll be very aggressive and I’m coming to win. I expect the same from Nonito. ? So I think there’s going to be a lot of fireworks.”
Rigondeaux has knocked out three of his four foes since scoring a suspect split decision over Panama’s Ricardo Cordoba (39-3-2, 25 KOs) in November 2010. The improvement Rigondeaux has shown in those three wins convinced Donaire that the Cuban southpaw is a true threat to his spot near the top of the sport’s pound-for-pound lists.
“I think there’s going to be fireworks between us,” Donaire, 30, said. “It might be a chess match, because we’re both defensive fighters. ? I don’t think it’ll be anything near [the Narvaez] fight.”
Let’s hope not.
