BoxRec

You see this is why it's soooooo important for fighters not to lose.....after a loss they totally comeback different Donaire hasn't been the same since

the Walters fight. It's like he lost his edge or something.

Great fighters can rebound from a loss.

It's not about staying unbeaten, it's about having the mental fortitude to bounce back, Manny lost several times early in his career, didn't do him much harm.

He was overrated for a minute, back down to earth. Very solid fighter, not great.

A very good boxer who enjoyed a height and reach advantage over nearly everyone he fought in the lower weight classes, as well as great knock out power. He fell in love with that power and regressed somewhat as a fighter. No version of him could outbox RIgondeaux mind you.

bnovelist wrote:You see this is why it's soooooo important for fighters not to lose.....after a loss they totally comeback different Donaire hasn't been the same since

the Walters fight. It's like he lost his edge or something.

BTB Walters wasn't Donnaire's first defeat.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:He was overrated for a minute, back down to earth. Very solid fighter, not great.

This. Also, like a lot of fighters his power didn't carry up as he moved up in weight. He is also old now. In his prime, he was a very, very good fighter but should not have been ranked in the top 3 p4p like he was.

Deadendgeneration wrote:A very good boxer who enjoyed a height and reach advantage over nearly everyone he fought in the lower weight classes, as well as great knock out power. He fell in love with that power and regressed somewhat as a fighter. No version of him could outbox RIgondeaux mind you.

To his credit, Donaire said pretty much the same with regard to Rigondeaux.

...we all forget how basic he looked against the dimunitative Narvaez?

Kept noticing those wide swinging left hooks Donaire was trying to land, has he always thrown it like that ? just seemed a waste of time and energy

He's 33 which for the lower weight classes is getting on a bit. I just think he's passed his best. That and like Saad said, he was always a decent fighter but not as great as he was hyped by some to be.

Why is it so important not to lose you make it sound like Donaire was undefeated until he met Guillermo Rigondeaux he lost his endefeated record in his 2nd pro fight back in 2001 but I do see what you mean about losing for the 1st time when your in your prime but it looks like Donaire is slightly past his prime when you look at what has happened in his career the last couple of year's his loss too Guillermo was against a very talented defensive master the 2nd loss was to Walters who was too big for Donaire in his last fight he was outworked by a younger hungrier fighter who worked harder for it during the fight Nonito was content on looking for the KO punch while he was getting outworked that's boxing and life its called age it catch's up with everyone sooner or later Nonito might still have a big win or two left in him.

It's a young man's game. 33 is quite old for that weight class. And fought for his first world title 9 years ago, he's been around a long time so it's only natural that he is on the slide now.

Donaire's reliance on athleticism, neglecting the jab or setting things up, came back to bite him. The inevitable really. Like what was already said, very good but not great.