Guillermo Rigondeaux W UD12 Nonito Donaire
Former two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba put on a mesmerizing display of boxing tonight on New York?s biggest stage ? Radio City Music Hall where he out-boxed pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire over twelve tactical rounds as seen live on HBO World Championship Boxing?. It was skill vs. skill right from the opening bell as both men traded fast shots to start things out. Both hit each other with solid counters that got the crowd going and as a result it became a high stakes chess match early. Donaire looked to come forward while Rigondeaux seemed eager to counter but both men were cautious to start things out. Each seemed to be looking to make the other commit to mistakes. There were few punches landed in the first few rounds but Rigondeaux appeared to have an early edge due to his slickness. The Cuban settled into a rhythm in the first half of the bout that had Donaire struggling to land solid punches. The action moved slowly but the skill level was of the highest order.
The crafty Cuban continued to hold an edge into the middle rounds as Donaire seemed lulled into a very slow pace. Both men were still landing in very low digits, but Rigondeaux was clearly the busier of the two finding it much easier to find Donaire than vice versa.
The crowd grew restless in the later rounds as Donaire struggled to find an answer for Rigondeaux?s stalwart defensive rhythm. The Cuban spent each round dictating the pace with very few astute punches that left his more experienced Donaire bedazzled.
As the championship rounds arrived it appeared that Rigondeaux had a commanding lead on the cards despite most rounds being fairly uneventful in terms of action.
Donaire came charging out in the tenth and saw his aggression rewarded as he scored a big knockdown off a right hand on the break. Rigondeaux showed good resolve to beat the count and even managed to slow things down to escape the round with his wits back.
Rigondeaux went right back to controlling the pace in Round 11 and in the twelfth landed a telling counter shot on Donaire?s right eye that instantly appeared to close it. Donaire pawed at it in pain and as a result was unable to mount much of a final effort in the closing round while Rigondeaux cruised to the final bell.
After twelve rounds were complete the scores were read as 114-113, 115-112 and 116-111? all for the Cuban phenom Guillermo Rigondeaux.
The loss was Donaire?s first in more than twelve years. The enormous victory for Rigondeaux earned him the WBO super bantamweight title to his WBA strap.
