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Will the ring savvy of Donaire overcome the power of Walters?

(Chris Farina/Top Rank Promotions)
(Chris Farina/Top Rank Promotions)

When five division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire steps into the ring before a sell-out crowd  at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California on Sunday morning Manila Time against the “Axe Man” Nicholas Walters of Jamaica who has chopped down 20 of his 24 opponents in an  unblemished record that is frighteningly real, he will be in a unification bout that will be more than a career defining fight – it will be a make or break affair.

A Donaire loss would halt his career in its tracks and send Donaire from a main event attraction into a supporting bout role with a corresponding cut in his purse.

However, the equal opportunity clause provides that should Donaire win, handsomely or otherwise, it will surely boost his standing and push him back into the fight fans consciousness as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters and resurrect his stature as  “Fighter of the Year”  which he was in 2012.

Both men have predicted that the clash would end in a knockout with the Jamaican suggesting the end could come in rounds five or six or even earlier if Donaire makes a mistake.

Similarly, Donaire has also predicted that the eagerly-awaited showdown would be an explosive fight that would end in a knockout but he didn’t specify the round.

If you look at how Donaire and Walters dealt with a common opponent in Australia’s Vic Darchinyan, the odds surely favor Walters who annihilated an aging Darchinyan, a one-time dangerous southpaw who moved up in weight just to make the fight and earn some money in the twilight of his career.

Walters dropped Darchinyan once in round 2 and twice in round 5 on May 31, 2014.

Donaire's rematch with Darchinyan turned out to be a disappointment for Donaire fans who were looking for a repeat of his first spectacular win.

In fact Darchinyan who had obviously prepared well and came into the ring with a solid game-plan was leading on the scorecards of all three judges going into the 9th round.

The concern in Donaire’s corner reflected on the face of trainer Robert Garcia sent a message to the fighter. He needed a knockout to win. In an instant, Donaire flashed his vaunted left hook as Darchinyan, for a moment, forgot the lessons of their first fight and lunged forward. Clearly hurt and unsteady, Darchinyan was ripe for the talking and Nonito wasted no time in getting the job done, scoring a 9th round TKO on November 9, 2013.

We learned later that Donaire had been nursing a fever and there were thoughts of a possible postponement but he decided the fight had to go on and so it did but for nine rounds it looked dicey for Donaire.

Prior to the Darchinyan rematch, Donaire was completely befuddled and out-boxed by former Cuban Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux before a stunned crowd at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on April 13, 2013.

Donaire who had hurt his hand in one of the earlier rounds had one moment of glory when he dropped Rigondeaux, nicknamed “The Jackal,” with a left hook in round ten but couldn’t finish him as the Cuban danced out of trouble and used his quickness to win a unanimous twelve round decision and deprive Donaire of his title.

In the Rigondeaux fight there were two issues that worked against Donaire. His fascination with the impending birth of the first child of his and wife Rachel, a cute kid named Jarel around whom his life soon began to revolve that saw him laze around rather than train seriously.

In the end the birth of Jarel turned out to be a blessing.

Family ties that were shattered were quickly mended after Rachel, who was supposedly the cause of the family feud, reached out to Nonito’s dad, Nonito "Dodong" Donaire Sr., and invited him over to their Las Vegas home and only told Nonito when his father agreed to visit.

Will the ring savvy of Donaire overcome the power of Walters?

There is always something special about a first grandchild and no sooner had Donaire Sr. carried his grandson in his arms, the family ties were bound together once again, firmer than ever.

It didn’t take long for Donaire to realize that he needed to reunite with his dad in his corner and although Garcia felt good about the renewed bonds between father and son and even gladly agreed to work with Donaire Sr. as they did in the WBA featherweight bout against super champion Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa, it was the end of Garcia’s stint as Donaire’s trainer.

Photo by Alvin Go
Photo by Alvin Go

While Donaire’s dad took over while he trained in Cebu and Manila for the Veyteka fight and they brought in American strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson on the advice of ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer, the training period was too short and quality sparring partners too few even as Donaire crammed for a couple of weeks to get into fight shape.

Once again, it was his left hook that saved Donaire as he dropped Vetyeka in round four which gave him  an edge at the end of the fourth round and in a master stroke, Garcia and his corner decided to allow the bell for the fifth round to sound before they convinced referee Luis Pabon and the WBA supervisor at ringside that an earlier accidental head-butt had created a gash that left Donaire in no position to continue.

They went to the scorecards since they were into round five and Donaire banked on the knockdown to win by a unanimous  fifth round technical decision.

Objectively, Donaire wasn’t impressive in his last three fights and even Walters respected the fact that he decided to face him when he didn’t have to. Walters commended Donaire and said he respected Donaire for “stepping up and taking the fight even though he didn’t have to. For that I respect him for getting into the ring with me.”
 
After their final public-media workout  which was one hour apart, Donaire said “we both have speed. We both have power. It's an explosive fight. This is going to end in a knockout. I will go into the ring and do my best.”

Referring to the undefeated Walters who had vowed to knock out Donaire in five or six rounds, “The Filipino Flash” conceded that “confident fighters are dangerous fighters. But there are other fighters who said before a fight they were stronger than me, hit harder, were going to knock me out” but it obviously didn’t happen.

Donaire said that while Walters “is a good champion” he posed the question, “really how many quality fights has he been in compared to where I have been in my career.”

Walters shot back that while they both have speed and power “the difference is intelligence” adding that he was “born to fight. The bigger the fight, the better.”

Walters said “if Donaire isn’t right. He’s going to get knocked out. Maybe five rounds, maybe less. Not sure yet.”

The remark about intelligence must have surely irked Donaire because he is known for his ring savvy and for being a thinking fighter.

These traits were clearly on display when he lured WBC bantamweight super champion Toshiaki Nishioka to come at him while he backed off against the ropes and then nailed him with a super counter combination to drop him in the 6th round and once more in the 9th en route to an impressive TKO victory in the same round that ended Nishioka’s career on October 13, 2012.

(Photo by Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images)

Donaire’s awesome left hook and his ring savvy were visibly evident in his fight against Jorge “Travieso” Arce at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on December 15, 2012 when he dropped Arce three times in three rounds to score a devastating knockout victory similar to what Donaire had done against bantamweight champion  Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel.

For the Walters fight Donaire has, according to his father/trainer Donaire Sr., trained hard and consistently well, unlike in the past when there were days he would feel lazy and take the day off.

Donaire Sr. assured Yahoo Philippines that during his training Nonito “went home only once. He is in great shape, trained very hard and is back to his old self” which meant “movement is back along with a smart way of fighting.”

The former No. 5 in the prestigious Ring Magazine pound for pound rankings has proven that he is a fighter who can adapt to how a fight develops in the ring.

He told us some time ago that he had wanted to work with his father so as to bring back the qualities that were part of his arsenal in his storied past – the hand-speed, the footwork and the power and the overall ability to out-box his opponents.

This is what has impressed Donaire Sr. in this training camp.

He told Yahoo Philippines he was “impressed with Nonito during training” pointing out that “he is much faster and much stronger and looks impressive.”

Donaire Sr. said they expect Walters to “come to try and knock out Nonito early and  have a good game-plan to counter  which we worked on during sparring with Guy Robb and I’m not worried because I know Nonito will carry it out on fight night. My son is a skilled fighter.”

While Walters has power, Nonito told us “I too can hit hard.”

Donaire’s advantage is his speed which invariably accentuates his punching power and if Walters goes chasing a knockout as predicted, he may get tagged by a vicious left hook which could change the complexion if not the outcome of the fight.

One other factor to Donaire’s advantage is that Walters may have fast hands and punching power but he is comparatively slow-footed and that may well be a fatal flaw against a skilled boxer like “The Filipino Flash.”