Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire took place on June 7, 2022.
The fight was won by Naoya Inoue by second round KO.
Afterwards, Nonito Donaire reflects on the punch that took Naoya Inoue down in the first round.
"I didn't see the straight at all."
Donaire said, "I tried to counter the straight with a hook or something, but I didn't see it at all. Suddenly there was a guy down there counting." He recalled.
He also asked, "Is this real? What happened?" He also described the intensity of the shock he felt at the time.
He said he realized he was down for the first time when Rachel (Donaire's wife), who was seconding him, told him, "If you don't take a fighting pose, the fight is over.
He revealed that when he went down in the first round, his mind went blank and he was caught by a punch he did not expect.
Indeed, if you look at Donaire after he went down in the first round, he was late in striking a fighting pose and finally raised both arms after looking at the seconds. It seems that even he did not know what had happened.
Donaire thanked us after the fight for keeping him healthy and told us that boxing can be dangerous.