Will the Nonito Donaire-Vic Darchinyan Rematch Be Any Different Than the First Fight?

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Generally after a world class fighter suffers a decisive loss, in which he is beaten soundly, questions about his future tend to arise. People start wondering if he will be able to come back and regain the same level of success that he had achieved before the loss.

Even though Nonito Donaire hadn’t lost in twelve years, in boxing you’re only as good as your last fight and April 13, 2013 was not one of Donaire’s best nights, as he was clearly beaten by WBA/WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, in what most saw as a one sided fight.

Donaire made no excuses after the fight and was very gracious in defeat, but there were reports of issues before the fight that may have hampered the “Filipino Flash” during his preparation. It was no secret that his wife Rachel was expecting the couple’s first child but what most of didn’t know is that Donaire was suffering from a right shoulder injury that required surgery that he has since received and is recovering from successfully.

With all of that behind him now, Donaire can put his full focus on what he does best and that’s boxing.

He will have his chance to get his career back on track and get back in the win column when he meets former foe Vic Darchinyan on Nov. 16 in a rematch of their fight back on July 7, 2007. The fight will be fought at the featherweight limit, which is a weight both men will be fighting at for the first time in their careers.

Former IBF Flyweight and Undisputed Super Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan is no stranger to the ups and downs that a career in boxing can bring. He has had to come back form losses before and reinvent himself on a few occasions. His fifth round knockout loss to Donaire in their first fight, in which he lost his flyweight title, was by far the most devastating in his career and since then he has been looking to exact revenge on his Filipino rival.

Since the loss, Darchinyan has had mixed success. He was able to reclaim a world title at super flyweight but came up short when he moved up to bantamweight and super bantamweight, although still making a good account of himself in narrow decision losses to former champs Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares at batamweight.

Darchinyan is on a two fight win streak with one of those wins being a notable upset victory over the hot young Puerto Rican prospect Luis Orlando Del Valle in a fight that many expected him to lose.

I guess you could say that this fight on Nov. 16 can be looked at as sort of a crossroads fight but maybe not.

Darchinyan is thirty seven years old and is no spring chicken anymore. Although he is still a capable fighter, it’s pretty safe to say that he is years away from his prime, and it’s hard to image that he could be that much better than he was in 2007. While Donaire is coming off of a loss, he is only thirty years old and hasn’t suffered much damage over his career despite the shoulder injury.

With all things considered, taking nothing away from Darchinyan, Donaire is still the faster, more athletically gifted, and all around better fighter than Darchinyan.

The question here is not who will win, but how long will it take for Donaire to finish Darchinyan this time around?