Veteran analyst assesses Donaire's legacy, says it would be better to retire after losing to Inoue

Veteran boxing analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino believes that former four-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr. should ponder on retirement following his one-sided loss to WBC, WBA and IBF world bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue this past Tuesday in Saitama, Japan.

“In my opinion, this is the worst loss of Donaire since Nicholas Walters knocked him out. The Walters fight, there was the benefit of the doubt because he had a big opponent, and even before he bowed out he was able to hurt the Axe Man,” said Tolentino.

“But this fight (Inoue rematch) was not even competitive. That is the manifestation of father time. There is nothing bad with retirement because he has accomplished so much.”

Donaire, 39, went the distance against Inoue in their first encounter in 2019 where he lost by way of unanimous decision. The rematch, however, was nowhere as competitive as he got dropped in the opening round before getting put away for good in round two.

“He cannot turn back the time so he can only savor what he accomplished. To me, you look at the last performance because a boxer is only as good as his last fight and we have not seen even a semblance of the flash,” Tolentino explained.

“He will go down as one of the greatest Filipino champions of all time and he would surely be eligible to be in the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.”

—JMB, GMA News