The first thing a person who considers himself a fan of boxing needs to understand and accept is that, at its core, boxing for all of its brutality is in fact a science. Fighting may not always be a science, but boxing most certainly always has and will be. A boxer is constantly calculating in order to figure out either the surest way to victory or the road of least resistance to victory. Some guys just study more than others. Take your counter-puncher for example; he calculates distance down to the millimeter. He studies your rhythm, looks for patterns, gauges the speed of various punches, studies the ring size, measures your arm length, feints to see your reaction and speed to it, etc. These are true technicians trying to dismantle their opponent while taking minimal risks themselves.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the volume-punching brawler. He's done studying by the time he enters the ring. He has already hit the equals button and it resulted in punches + more punches = something his opponent can't handle. Less of a science, but a science still as he has to account for the punches he'll take in order to give in return, and the sturdiness of his chin versus that of his opponent's. Not like he would likely adjust if he was unsure because these guys usually only have a plan A. I say that to say this: if the idea is to hit and not get hit, which is the natural thinking process of any individual engaged in combat, I would think that you would have to credit the successful counter-puncher more than the brawler.
On April 13, 2013, two of boxing's elite faced off against one another when Guillermo Rigondeaux squared off against Nonito Donaire in what I thought turned out to be a masterpiece of a fight. Nonito Donaire was the favorite, but hardcore boxing fans knew this was going to be his toughest challenge by far. Boy was that an understatement. Rigo displayed his defensive genius and counterpunching mastery from the beginning and made easy work of the top five pound-for-pound rated (arguably top 3 at the time) Donaire. I watched in amazement as Rigondeaux took Donaire's best weapons and put them on the shelf, capitalizing on every mistake Donaire made. Obviously we all now know the outcome of that fight, a lop-sided unanimous decision win for Rigo, but what was the other outcome of the fight?
Rigondeaux would be criticized for his performance because he didn't engage to the point where Donaire was able to lay hands on him consistent enough to create back and forth action. This is a travesty and a slap in the face to all boxing enthusiasts and trailblazers of the sport, like Sugar Ray Robinson, who got the nickname "Sugar" as a spin on the word "sweet" from the "sweet science". Rigondeaux just recently had a fight rejected by HBO, which as of right now is a form of blackballing to me. All of this coming on the heels of his biggest victory to date. Meanwhile, Donaire continues to make headlines as he discusses the possibility of facing Vic Darchinyan in a rematch at 122, which I don't think will be competitive at all. I see Donaire stopping him again, inside of 5 rounds....again.
I understand people wanting back and forth action, but I don't understand a fighter being penalized for being too good to allow those circumstances to enter play. Not only that, but it's not like Nonito has ever been stopped. Hell, his only loss came 13 years ago. I mean, you're talking creme de la creme when you're talking Donaire, so what's the big deal? It would be good to notice that Rigo has only 12 professional wins and 8 of those are by way of stoppage, giving him a higher KO percentage than Donaire. We're not talking easy opposition either. His competition has a combined record of 265 wins and 54 losses with 9 of those fighters having 4 or less losses and three of the other fighters accounting for 41 of the losses.
In other words, as of right now, Rigo should be considered one of the most fundamentally sound knockout artists in the game right now. This guy has one-punch KO power, but because of the clinic he put on one of boxing's next big things, he's being punished. Could race be an issue? Absolutely. I'm not naive to the fact that Manny Pacquiao has galvanized the Filipino population to a point that trumps what the Cuban nation brings to the table, but couldn't that change? I mean, I've been watching boxing for a long time and I can tell you right now that Filipinos were not always making noise in boxing. There always has to be a first.
I think it would be a shame if Rigo is blackballed and ends up fighting on lesser venues than the one he stole the show on just because he was over qualified for the job he was hired to do that night; or even worse, forced to compromise his style to one that is more "crowd pleasing" and ending up giving less than his best or even losing because of pressure to take unnecessary risks. I don't know...maybe it's just me...what do you think?
Feel free to contact me with feedback, or questions at theboxingmachine@yahoo.com.