NONITO ?the Flash? Donaire Jr. plans to invade the bantamweight or superbantamweight division after scoring an emphatic technical knockout win against Raul Martinez of Mexico on Sunday.
?It [moving up] is definitely what I wanted to do. I want to move up for a while but it?s really up to my promoter and my manager,? said Donaire, who currently holds the International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organization flyweight titles.
Even Donaire?s promoter, Bob Arum, agrees that Sunday?s ?The Flash & The Furious? card should be the Bohol-born fighter?s last outing at flyweight.
The celebrated promoter, who also has Filipino superstar Manny ?PacMan? Pacquiao under his wings, is looking at something big for Donaire?s first foray at bantamweight.
?There?s this fight between [Eric] Morel and [Fernando] Montiel in the Kelly Pavlik [versus Sergio Mora] title defense [at middleweight] on June 27. I wanna get Donaire into the mix. Whether Morel wins or Montiel wins, he [Donaire] should fight the winner,? Arum said.
The Morel-Montiel fight will be for the World Boxing Organization bantamweight title, of which Montiel is the interim holder. Montiel is 5?4? and has a 39-2 record with 29 knockouts, while Morel is 5?6 ? with a 41-2 record with 21 KOs. Donaire is 5?6? and is 24-1 with 14 KOs.
Donaire said he is ready to face anyone in the bantamweight or superbantamweight division.
?Anybody as long it is a championship fight,? he said.
Donaire had to shed three pounds hours before the weigh-in for his third title defense against Martinez.
?I?m no longer comfortable with flyweight because it?s killing my body slowly,? he said.
?I felt good during the weigh-in against Martinez but that?s because I trained really hard.? Donaire actually weighed in at 111.5-lbs on Saturday.
