MANILA, Philippines – There was neither a fracture nor any form of serious injury in the left fist of interim WBA super flyweight champion Nonito Donaire, a noted sports physician revealed Saturday.
“There was swelling caused by an old trauma which occurred in a previous fight in Manila five months ago,” Doctor Raul Canlas, of the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Donaire complained of pain in his left hand after a bruising encounter with overweight Panamanian Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion for the interim belt Saturday in Las Vegas.
There were concerns that the injured fist could derail plans for Donaire’s next bout.
But Canlas said that the fist should pose no problem and Donaire should be able to fight again in December.
“He can resume training in three weeks and the trauma in his knuckle should be totally gone in six weeks,” Canlas said.
Donaire is currently waiting for the outcome of the match between Mexican superstar Jorge Arce of Mexico and Simphiwe Nongqayi of South Africa for the vacant IBF super flyweight title on September 15 in Mexico.
Arce is being groomed by Top Rank boss Bob Arum as Donaire’s next opponent in a planned “Pinoy Power 3” card in December. Both Arce and Donaire are promoted by Arum.
If the South African scores an upset, Donaire need not look farther as the camp of regular WBA champion Nobuo Nashiro of Japan reportedly wants to stake his belt and battle Donaire in the United States.
In an e-mail to the Inquirer well-known Japanese matchmaker and boxing scribe Joe Koizumi revealed the willingness of Nashiro to slug it out with Donaire.
“I’ve been waiting for so long to test these Japanese fighters because I also feel they have the toughest fighters in the world today,” said Donaire.
But just like Arce, Nashiro (13-1, 8 KO’s) is booked to defend his crown against Mexican Hugo Cazares on September 30 in Japan. With a report from Dennis Principe, Contributor
