Nonito Donaire: 'I'll be back, congratulations to Guillermo Rigondeaux'

Nonito Donaire took the risk and came up short tonight, outboxed and flustered by Guillermo Rigondeaux in an upset at Radio City Music Hall. Donaire, who said after the fight on HBO that he's been in need of shoulder surgery, gave respect to Rigondeaux on TV, and also via Twitter after the fight:

I just want to thank God for keeping me safe, my guardian angels for protecting me, my Team for standing behind me, and my fans for their support. I tried to give my all and push the fight but we'll be back. I'll come back and do better. For now, I congratulate Rigondeaux.

Donaire (31-2, 20 KO) just didn't look himself tonight, and that may be that he was a bit flat, or perhaps underprepared, but to me, it simply looked like Rigondeaux was the better man, and that the style matchup was pure hell for Donaire. It wasn't far off what I called in the staff picks (yes, I'm going to gloat, for fun, to be purposely annoying). What we saw from Donaire against Omar Narvaez, a crafty southpaw, back in 2011 showed up tonight -- but Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO) is better, bigger, faster, and stronger than Narvaez.