Analyst praises Donaire for pursuing Inoue rematch, says he remains a threat at 39

Veteran boxing analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino commended four-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr. ahead of his highly-anticipated rematch against WBA and IBF world bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue this Tuesday, June 7 at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

“First of all, we salute Donaire for being a world champion at 39 years old. He could have avoided this fight, he could have earned money by fighting lesser opponents, and yet he is going for the monster Inoue,” said Tolentino.

“It is going to be a tough fight, he is the underdog but his confidence is high going into this fight. Now he is coming in enjoying his second win and that is a good sign.”

Donaire, who currently holds the WBC world bantamweight title, locked horns with the Japanese fighter in 2019, where he lost via unanimous decision in a bout touted as fight of the year. He has bounced back since and is coming off two stoppages over Nordine Oubaali and Reymart Gaballo.

According to Tolentino, the 39-year-old Donaire, though an underdog, still packs a punch which makes him just as dangerous as he was almost three years ago since his first encounter with Inoue.

“I would like to see some changes in Donaire's style. I want to see more jabs because he was waiting for Inoue to attack in the first fight so he was getting hit first,” Tolentino noted.

“That left hook of Donaire which put the pain on Inoue the first time they met keeps him a threat in this fight.”

—JMB, GMA News