The Nonito Donaire vs. Omar Narvaez fight on HBO this past weekend was a huge disappointment. Donaire got a win over a reputable opponent, but Narvaez stunk the joint out, refusing to engage or make it possible for Donaire to engage for the entire second half of the bout. It’s something that made Top Rank quite upset, because it took the air out of a big event, and what should have been a positive showcase for their fighter, Donaire, whom they’re trying to build into a global star with universal appeal.
So, Todd duBoef came up with a new idea. A special winner’s take all bonus for the next Nonito Donaire fight, for a very substantial $100,000. That’s enough to get anyone that’s hesitant in the ring to give more of an effort to try to actually win the fight, instead of just coming to see the final bell.
Here’s what duBoef said in the linked article written by Kevin Iole from Yahoo!:
“We can do a lot of things to build a fight, but once the bell rings, it’s out of our hands,” duBoef said. “I was just so [angry] about what happened [in the Donaire fight] on Saturday, that I thought about what I could do to change that, or to do my best to prevent it from happening.
“I don’t want guys fighting for me who just want to make it to the finish on their feet. I want guys who are going to come to fight to win. That’s the point of this bonus. The next time Nonito fights, I’m going to put that $100,000 up as a winner-take-all bonus and see if that incentivizes the guys to go out and fight.”
That’s a smart move from Top Rank, and certainly something to generate some positive publicity in the meantime. Of course, if Donaire’s next opponent at 122 lbs is some schlub he’ll be expected to blow out of the water, the $100k bonus will basically just be an extra $100k for their star fighter, guaranteed. But we’ll see who he’s lined up to face, and whether or not that guy will really try to make an effort to win the fight and bring home that extra money.
Of course, the UFC under Dana White has always awarded fight of the night, knockout of the night and submission of the night bonuses to fighters from all of their cards to encourage exciting, action-packed fights with decisive finishes instead of slow fights that head to the judges scorecards. So in this case, boxing following in line with the UFC is actually a logical idea.
But right now, this seems to have as much to do about protecting the star appeal of The Filipino Flash as it does anything else.
