Rigondeaux Puts on Clinic, Outboxes Donaire to Earn Dominant Unanimous Decision Victory

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The April 13th edition of HBO Championship Boxing is bound to be one to remember. For some, it’ll be a night that featured two of the sport’s best engaged in a highly technical chess match for the ages. For others, it was nothing but a 12-round drubbing that was well worth the countless boos. Everyone else however will remember it as the night an amateur legend upset a surging star who many were already deeming to be the next great talent in boxing.

Going into the super bantamweight bout, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone, both fans and media alike, who thought Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 knockouts) would defeat Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 knockouts), especially in a dominant manner. After all, Rigondeaux was an all-time great in the amateurs who had only strung together 11 victories in his budding professional career. Compare this to Nonito Donaire who had managed to go undefeated as a professional for twelve years, and was absolutely tearing through contenders in his journey through the sports lighter weight-classes. As Rigondeaux proved however, 475 amateur bouts still do mean something in the realm of experience as he outboxed, and quite frankly outclassed the much more popular Donaire.

At the start of the opening round, things played out much like many expected. With both fighters being counter-punchers, no one expected fireworks early as they would both try to get a sense of what their opponent had to offer. With a wicked fast jab, strong straights, and hooks to the body Rigondeaux was setting a pattern that would prove to give Donaire fits. As he weaved in and out of the Filipino’s range, Rigondeaux was slowly managing to build quite the points lead with a mixture of effective punching, strong defense, and superb foot work. This would lead to Donaire becoming visibly frustrated throughout the twelve round bout, which in turn would leave him open for one of Rigondeaux’s sneak hooks or uppercuts.

Things weren’t going well for Donaire, and after six rounds it wasn’t looking to get much better. Without a sense of urgency in his corner, it’s almost as if Donaire was absolutely clueless when it came to dealing with a fighter that was as technically sound as the Cuban. With the HBO crew having Donaire losing every round through the first 9 rounds of the 12-round championship bout, it was seeming more and more likely that Donaire would need nothing short of a miracle to win this fight. That miracle almost came in the 10th round after an ultra aggressive Donaire came charging out of his corner, and dropped Rigondeaux with a vicious hook. Smelling blood, Donaire continued his attack, but unlike all of the “Filipino Flash”‘s previous opponents, Rigondeaux managed to not only keep his composure, but recover. Rigondeaux continued moving around the ring, avoiding the best of Donaire’s shots, while landing his own and closing out the rounds strong.

Oddly enough, all of Donaire’s aggression in the 10th-round seemed to have totally dissipated as Donaire reverted back to the gameplan which did him no favors in the earlier rounds. While he managed to land his own shots every now and then, Rigondeaux kept in his calculated attack, earning another round in the judges scorecards. Going into the 12th round, many expected Donaire to really turn it on as the points deficit to Rigondeaux was obvious. Unfortunately, this all changed as soon as Rigondeaux tagged Donaire with a left hand that left Donaire’s right eye badly damaged. With all of Donaire’s focus on protecting his right eye, Rigondeaux ran nothing short of a clinic on the champion. Forcing him along the ropes, Rigondeaux pummeled the head and body of Donaire before closing the round with his own bit of show boating.

As the final bell sounded, it was announced that the judges had to “re-tally” their scores. This already sent flags of potential controversy in most fans mind,  and as the scores were announced it was obvious that the judges were watching a much more competitive fight. The judges scorecards were: (114-13), (115-112) , and (116-111) all in favor of Rigondeaux. This was vastly different from the HBO scorecard (and my own) in which Donaire didn’t win a single round aside from the 10th in which he managed to knock down Rigondeaux. Regardless of what the scores were, one has to find solace in the fact that the right man walked away with the victory.

As far as where Rigondeaux goes from here, he has left no doubt that he is the man to beat at 122-lbs. Sure, Abner Mares is another of the division’s top fighters, but with the strained relationship between Golden Boy and Top Rank, a safer bet would be to see a rematch between Rigondeaux and Donaire, but with the crowds reaction that may not happen. For Donaire, it marks a period of rebuilding his superstar image. With some time away from the ring due to the impending birth of his child, one can only speculate where Donaire may decide to go with his career. Whether it be an eventual tune-up or not, rest assured, Donaire will want another shot at Rigondeaux.