Also, after Donaire and Narvaez put the majority of fans to sleep with 12 rounds of cat and mouse, Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland woke them up on Nov. 5 with their brutal and exciting slugfest. It was one of the best fights of the past few years and the guaranteed pay system was the same as in the Donaire vs Narvaez fight. One solution mentioned would be to guarantee the fighters so much money per round won or points earned. For instance, a boxer who wins two-thirds of a 12-round fight would take home two thirds of the money. But what happens in the case of a knockout or when a boxer doesn’t win a round?
A better solution would be a bonus system where the fighters are both guaranteed a decent paycheck with the winner taking home the bonus. Top Rank Boxing has said they’ll pay a $100,000 bonus to anybody who can beat Donaire. This is a good start, but there are still fighters out there who are looking to survive when faced against the sport’s best instead of trying to win.
Donaire said it was a good idea to basically place a bounty on his head as it should result in more competitive fights. In addition, if Donaire wins he’ll be the one who pockets the bonus money. Basically, it’s something that the UFC does on its cards, but their fighters’ guaranteed wages are a lot lower than an elite boxer’s. Freddie Roach uses the same tactic in Manny Pacquiao’s training camps by offering $1,000 to any of his sparring partners that can deck the WBO Welterweight Champion.
Offering a bonus shouldn’t be needed in boxing, but it’s just a fact of life that some boxers are a different breed than others. Putting $100,000 out there to beat Donaire will hopefully spruce things up the next time he fights, but it’s no guarantee as some opponents are simply unwilling to engage in a fight, such as Narvaez showed the world. Still a bonus system is better than nothing if it means we don’t have to endure another fight like Donaire-vs Narvaez.
