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SHOWTIME SHOWS INTEREST IN SHOWING DONAIRE VS. FRAMPTON SHOWDOWN By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Mon, 02 Apr 2018  Nonito Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) fights Carl Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs) on April 21 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a showdown of two famous and accomplished former multi-weight champions. Donaire will be Frampton's toughest opponents since the Belfast star lost a twelve round decision in his rematch with Leo Santa Cruz in January 2017. And for Donaire, it will only be his second fight since losing a twelve round decision to Jessie Magdaleno in November 2016. Presently, there were no U.S. television networks which acquired the rights for this fight. But lately, Showtime showed interested in pocketing this broadcast deal. "Absolutely, I mean it fits right in with our priorities, not just our history with Carl recently but because of all our activity in the featherweight division and I think it's just an intriguing stand-alone fight on it's own," said Stephen Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, as told to BoxingScene.com. Both fighters are now with new promoters. Frampton is now promoted by Frank Warren after separating from longtime promoter Barry McGuigan. Donaire daparted from his longtime promoter Top Rank and is now under Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports. This classic encounter between two well-known featherweights can lead to future title fights. WBO sanctioned this bout for the body's interim featherweight title, with the winner to be given the chance to face undefeated world champion Oscar Valdez. "Donaire's been a little bit inactive but he's always been an athletic, entertaining fighter and it's a tough match-up for him in Carl Frampton who's one of the very best at that weight class," said Espinoza, who says Showtime is pursuing it aggressively and hoping that there will be an announcement to be made on the contest within the next week or so. The Filipino Flash Donaire has won world championships at flyweight, bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight divisions, and was once considered as the heir-apparent to Manny Pacquiao's throne as the country's premier boxing star. Frampton is a former two-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA (Super) and IBFsuper-bantamweight titles between 2014 and 2016, and the WBA (Super) featherweight title from 2016 to 2017. The Filipino Flash Donaire has won world championships at flyweight, bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight divisions, and was once considered as the heir-apparent to Manny Pacquiao's throne as the country's premier boxing star. Frampton is a former two-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA (Super) and IBFsuper-bantamweight titles between 2014 and 2016, and the WBA (Super) featherweight title from 2016 to 2017. The Northern Irishman was heavily tested by the unknown Horacio Garcia last month before carving out a decision win. It was fought in the same card of Jerwin Ancajas successful title defense against Jamie Conlan. Frampton suffered his first professional defeat in January when he was defeared by Leo Santa Cruz in their rematch. By winning the featherweight world title in 2016, Frampton became the first boxer from Northern Ireland and only the second boxer from Ireland to have held world titles in two weight classes after Steve Collins. This feat won for him the Fighter of the Year awards by The Ring magazine, the Boxing Writers Association of America, and ESPN. On December 2015, Donaire won the vacant WBO Super bantamweight title, defeating Mexican Cesar Juarez by unanimous decision. The fight was controlled by Donaire in the early rounds, dropping the Mexican brawler twice. But Juarez showed a big heart and the latter rounds were fought much closer as the bout turned into a battle of wills. Donaire defended the WBO title successfully against Zsolt Bedak of Hungary via a third-round TKO in Cebu City on April 23, 2016. Donaire lost to Jessie Magdaleno as the co-main event on Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas PPV bout on November 5, 2016. This was the first time Donaire and Pacquiao, the two biggest boxing stars of the Philippines, have fought on the same card. Presently, there were no U.S. television networks which acquired the rights for this fight. But lately, Showtime showed interested in pocketing this broadcast deal. "Absolutely, I mean it fits right in with our priorities, not just our history with Carl recently but because of all our activity in the featherweight division and I think it's just an intriguing stand-alone fight on it's own," said Stephen Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, as told to BoxingScene.com. Both fighters are now with new promoters. Frampton is now promoted by Frank Warren after separating from longtime promoter Barry McGuigan. Donaire daparted from his longtime promoter Top Rank and is now under Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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