I was looking forward to this fight, because I like seeing that style of fight. The first four rounds or so I found to be very entertaining--I thought Donaire was patiently moving Rigondeaux around the ring, waiting for an opportunity, and Rigondeaux was doing a good job of anticipating, avoiding, and getting his shots in.
Then Donaire made a bit of a move and landed a hard punch near the end of round four. But Rigondeaux came back with a nice little flurry to end the round. And I think that confused Donaire, because he never looked quite the same after that. I don't know--maybe he bought into the idea that he could end it with one punch off one mistake, and got flustered when Rigondeaux came back strong. Wherein the first four rounds he looked like he was moving Rigondeaux around and actively look for an opportunity, after that he started to follow a bit and seemed very reactive. In most of the later rounds he just looked slow and confused while Rigondeaux danced around him.
The tenth was an exception, of course. But, again, when he couldn't stop Rigondeaux he didn't have anything else to offer. I thought the fight was closer than the announcers did, but I didn't think it was as close as the judges did. The 116-111 I could see. The 114-113 ... I couldn't stretch enough to find five rounds to give Donaire.
So what did you think of the fight?
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