Donaire looks back on first knockdown against Inoue: 'I did not see it coming'

Former four-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr. did not know what hit him when he made the first trip to the canvas in the first round of his rematch against the unified bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue this past Tuesday at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Donaire was sent for a trip to the canvas with a short right hand by Inoue in the dying seconds of the opening round. He admits that he did not see the punch coming and needed instructions from his corner to realize what was going on.

“I didn't see it, I didn't see it at all. All I know the referee was counting me. I got up, and I am like, he is still counting why is he counting still?” Donaire shared on his Youtube channel Beyond The Ring.

“And then I turned around to the corner, Rachel was like, 'Put your hands up or else they will count you up.' I put my hands up and that was how [I knew] I got dropped. When I went to the corner, I was like what did he hit me with? That was what happened, I saw it in the replay.”

The 39-year-old Donaire made it to the next round but was seemingly unable to fully recover. Inoue fired on all cylinders, dropping Donaire with a straight right hand followed by a left hook to end the contest at the 1:24 mark of round two.

—JM Siasat/JMB, GMA News