Nonito Donaire admitted that he had never been in such a predicament before at any stage of his boxing career, which spans three decades. Even in his twelve previous rounds with Naoei Inoue The former four-division champion has not experienced a single moment when he passed out in the ring.
In a rematch near the end of the first round of their bantamweight title rematch, Inoue landed a right hand to Donaire's temple and sent the future Hall of Famer to the floor in their bout in Saitama, Japan.
“When I missed this punch, I didn’t even realize that I was on the floor,” Donaire admitted during a post-fight interview on his Beyond The Ring channel with Nonito and Rachel on YouTube. - I did not see this blow, because I tried to counterattack, and missed it. It was pretty much the end of the fight."
“I can honestly say that this was the hardest hit I have ever missed. After that first knockdown, I got up completely stunned. I just didn't see that hit. I didn't even understand what happened. I tried to counterattack, but ended up on the floor, and referee Michael Griffin opened the score for me. Then I thought, “What's going on? Are you kidding? Then I looked into the corner and Rach (Nonito's wife, trainer and manager) said, "Put your hands up or he'll stop the fight." And I'm like, "Damn, I've been on the floor!"
Donaire, 39, a Las Vegas resident originally from the Philippines, was again on the floor in the middle of the second round, and this time the fight was stopped.
Donaire has lost just one stoppage in his 48 previous fights, in the sixth round against the then undefeated Nicholas Walters in their fight for the WBA featherweight title in October 2014. Donaire fought in his fifth weight class against the best version of Walters, but still managed to prove himself before the fight was stopped.
The Filipino was able to raise his assets to new heights despite losing a meeting with Inoue in November 2019, when he also hit the floor in the eleventh round after hitting the body and lost on points. Donaire had a highly competitive fight, smashing Inoue's nose and inflicting a cheekbone injury on the undefeated tri-division champion in their WBA-IBF bantamweight unification bout.
In the rematch, Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs) defended his belts, while Donaire risked the WBC belt he won with a fourth-round stoppage victory over undefeated Nordin Ubaali on May 29 last year. Inoue once again reminded why for many years he was at the top of most P4P ratings.
In the end, Donaire did what he does best in any situation - resigned himself to the result and accepted everything as it was.
“What it is is what it is,” said Donaire, the best boxer of 2011 and winner of the BWAA Good Guy Award 2018 (“Good Guy 2018” from the Boxing Writers Association of America), in an interview. “I am very grateful that I am healthy.”
