In a matter of hours, we will see the rematch between bantamweight rivals Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire take place, and fans everywhere are anticipating a great fight in Japan. When “The Monster” and “The Filipino Flash” collided in November of 2019 fans were treated to a modern day classic, with Inoue winning by 12 round unanimous decision, but not before being pushed harder than ever before, his orbital bone busted.
Donaire, who got up from a wicked body shot knockdown, has since shown he has plenty left, winning two fights by stoppage in title fights. Today, the four-belt unification is on and although he is 39, Donaire fully believes he will get the win this time. 29 year old Inoue disagrees, naturally. But how do the experts see today’s fight going?
Well, if we go by the poll of 20 experts that is up at RingTV.com, it’s bad news for Nonito. All 20 experts pick Inoue to get the win once again, with 13 of these experts picking Inoue to win by stoppage. It may perhaps come as some surprise that not one single expert is picking Donaire to win (on this poll, anyway), but Father Time is against Donaire.
The 13 experts picking Inoue to win inside the distance this time are: Lee Groves, Inoue KO7, Marty Mulcahey, Inoue late round stoppage, Michael Montero, Inoue by late stoppage, Norm Frauheim, Inoue TKO 11, Duke McKenzie, Inoue TKO 9, Paul Butler (who holds the WBO bantamweight title and wants to fight today’s winner), Inoue late TKO with body shots, Raul Marquez, Inoue KO inside six rounds, Jolene Mizzone, Inoue TKO 10, Robert Diaz, Inoue TKO 9, Kathy Duva, Inoue TKO9, Steve Farhood, Inoue TKO 7, Jason Moloney (who also has interest in facing today’s winner) Inoue TKO 10, Eric Bottjer, Inoue TKO9.
So are these experts doing Inoue a disservice, or will the amazing ring career of Donaire perhaps come to an end in a few hours? It may be foolish to write Donaire off, but Inoue is in his prime right now and he seems to be just about unstoppable.
Pick: Inoue by stoppage in round 10.