Photo By Chris Farina
There were several instances during Nonito Donaire’s rematch with Vic Darchinyan where Donaire’s facial expressions aligned with what we were all thinking. Early on, when it was clear that Darchinyan meant business and attacked with all of his normal fury, the look was that of surprise. And we agreed.
Darchinyan, despite being leveled with a picture-perfect counter-left hook in their first meeting, was not being all that cautious. He wasn’t going to box. He was going to swing. The initial surprise on Donaire’s face then intensified – not only was Darchinyan throwing bombs – he was landing them.
The surprise then gave way to another look, one of confusion. It was similar to the look Roy Jones had in his first meeting with Antonio Tarver over a decade ago. The look said, “how the hell is he hitting me with these punches?”
Donaire had spent nearly his entire career enjoying monumental advantages over pretty much every opponent in pretty much every category that mattered – speed, power, quickness, and athleticism. It was all of those things that catapulted him to the upper end of the pound-for-pound rankings. He won fights, and he won them with ease. On this night however, things were pretty much even.
He was a relative unknown until July 7th, 2007, when he first met Darchinyan. The Armenian born, psychotic looking “Raging Bull” had utterly tortured Donaire’s brother Glenn while defending his flyweight title in 2006, and Nonito spoke of seeking revenge.
His revenge was a beautifully destructive one-punch knockout that made him instantly recognizable in the boxing world. He did the rest from there by dominating everyone for years.
Donaire won Fighter of the Year in 2012 and set up a showdown with Cuban phenomenon Guillermo Rigondeaux in April of last year. What could have been the icing on the cake of a fantastic career turned into a disaster. Rigondeaux won the fight easily, slipping nearly every shot the offensively-gifted Donaire threw while catching him with an alarming number of punches.
Defeated for the first time in twelve years, Donaire finally decided to give Darchinyan the rematch he had wanted. Darchinyan, who only a few years prior had been one of the most feared fighters in the world, had by now slowed down considerably.
The fight was designed to do one thing – produce another spectacular knockout for Donaire to prove he still had the will and the skill. As it turned out, he got the spectacular knockout. But he went through hell to get there.
Down on the cards and suffering from a broken orbital bone that produced some pretty nasty facial swelling, Donaire finally caught Darchinyan with that deadly left hook in the ninth round. A few seconds later, Donaire had his knockout victory, but he seemed to raise more questions in the victory than anything.
While Rigondeaux was simply too slick and skilled for an admittedly ill-prepared Donaire to handle, Darchinyan isn’t even on the same planet with him in terms of skill. But there he was, busting up Donaire with repeated left hand shots.
By the mid rounds, Donaire had another expression on his face, one that seemed to say, “do I want to do this anymore?” Darchinyan is a fighter who will make others ask that of themselves. He’s relentless and throws vicious shots with the intention to maim.
And while Donaire later answered that question emphatically – he literally fought through a broken face to get the KO, it brought up another one altogether – does he still have it?
That is where Saturday comes in. Just two years removed from being named Fighter of the Year, Donaire laces up the gloves determined to prove he’s still an elite fighter. His opponent is a South African fighter named Simpiwe Vetyeka. Little is known of Vetyeka, who scored a knockout win over Chris John last December, but he’ll certainly be testing the theory that Donaire’s best days are behind him.
Although Donaire is only 31 and has been in few wars, he often seems to rely on freakish athleticism more than technical boxing. His reflexes were always so sharp that he was able to make up for mistakes, and his fantastic punching power was always there if he ever got into a serious jam.
While the power is clearly still there, perhaps the reflexes aren’t quite as sharp as he continues to move up in weight. He’s insisting that his rough 2013 was just an aberration, and that he’s back in full force as a featherweight.
If he comes up with another monster performance Saturday in Macau, China on HBO, he’ll be a threat to work over anyone near his weight class. If the Top Rank/Golden Boy feud ends, there are some seriously tantalizing matchups out there for him.
The Filipino has been so freakishly good over the years that perhaps we’re overreacting to his recent struggles. After all, Rigondeaux, while about as exciting as a trip to the podiatrist, is basically better than anyone he gets into the ring with. And Darchinyan isn’t exactly a pushover.
We’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out if Donaire has simply had a rough couple of fights, or if father time has latched on to him a little early. Either way, he’s still compelling as hell to watch.
