Jason Moloney already evades Donaire giving up the chance to fight for a title. I feel that Moloney still acknowledges Donaire's skills despite of the "old" age. I do not think Moloney will have that courage to face Donaire and most probably he will explore the other title of the same division rather than contending the title of Donaire if ever Donaire wins the fight against Santiago. If ever Donaire wins the title in his upcoming fight, the only chance seeing this two boxer fight is the unification bout if ever Moloney gets the other title and the sanctioning body will have a mandatory titel unification bout (if that is possible), else Moloney will keep ducking Donaire until Moloney feels Donaire is not that capable anymore.
What's the purpose of that?
Moloney getting smart by not letting Donaire beat his ass? The way Moloney back out on the fight against Donaire, I think Moloney is not confident that he can beat Donaire.
In my opinion, that's not a smart idea. If Moloney really feels that he is a champion, he should be willing to fight anyone who wants to challenge him. He is younger than Donaire, so he may have an advantage. Besides, Donaire is not unbeatable as he suffered a bad defeat against Inoue in their last fight.
I think it is a smart move by Moloney, if he feels that he will not win against Donaire. Rather than making himself and record suffer, he decided to look for another means to get the other title of the same division. Moloney is still young, probably he wanted Donaire to get older to have more edge on the match
We need to wait for the outcome of this fight first, and if Donaire does become a champion again, maybe Moloney will change his mind.
Indeed we need to wait first, if Donaire become "older" maybe Moloney will change his mind
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I understand your concern though although what I can say about that is, he still can deliver that deadly punches.
My only reference is, Donaire is not against a considered top-ranked boxer therefore, we are not expecting an Inoue-type of opponent here where Donaire's age is playing a big role. Age does matter and that's usual but against Santiago, I don't really consider age as a factor.
However, if Donaire will struggle against Santiago, no way Donaire can even match with other top-ranked boxers in the bantamweight.
In this fight with Santiago, let's set aside the age of Donaire, as I believe it won't be a hindrance for him to still deliver his accurate punch. Donaire has many experience already with many top boxers and I think it's one of his advantage because he can adjust to the level of his opponent. I agree that if he struggle in this fight with Santiago then it would be hard already to match with top boxers, not because we underestimate Santiago but it is a fact for Donaire's career.
Hopefully age is not the deciding factor for Donaire's performance. If age won't affect Donaire's performance in his next fight, with the experience and skills, I am in no doubt that Donaire can win the fight easily.