Guillermo Rigondeaux Dethrones Nonito Donaire At Radio City

by Gautham Nagesh

On Thursday night, Nonito Donaire accepted the 2012 Fighter of the Year Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America. Donaire seemed humbled, and genuinely honored by the award, which he earned by fighting and winning four times last year while undergoing stringent drug testing.

I only joined BWAA last month, and therefore had no input on the 2012 awards. If I had, you can bet I would have argued loudly and vociferously for Stiff Jab 2012 Boxer of the Year Juan Manuel Marquez. My reasoning, as laid out in the original post, are simple: as great as Donaire has been, he hasn’t fought either of the truly elite fighters at 122 lbs. The Filipino Flash’s lofty pound-for-pound ranking has been based mostly on achievements at lower weights, where his size and power made him an absolute terror.

Last night at Radio City Music Hall Donaire finally stepped into the ring with one of the top names at junior featherweight, two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux. Many inside boxing picked the Cuban to win, citing his breathtaking amateur accomplishments and Donaire’s recent lack of focus. As a fan of slick boxers, I also struggled with a prediction and chose not to make one. Donaire