A little over two years ago, Nonito Donaire was standing across the ring from the highly rated Vic Darchinyan as an underdog. He went on to win the fight by technical knockout in the 5th round, and at the same time announced himself on the world stage. That night Donaire took the IBF flyweight title and the IBO title as well, which he has since relinquished.
Fast forward two years and Donaire is still winning, and has the WBA interim super flyweight title, while Darchinyan has both the WBA and WBC titles. A rematch is something both men want, and it now seems only a matter of time before the two meet in the ring again.
On Darchinyan’s part, this is already done, having scored a two round knockout over Tomas Rojas last weekend. For Donaire, a match against Gerson Guerrero (34-8, 26 KO’s) in Top Rank’s “Pinoy Power III” card in February is next on the agenda, but after that a rematch looks like a certainty.
Should Donaire be victorious a second time, it will no doubt mark a golden age in Filipino boxing, having two entries in the ring magazine pound for pound rankings. The other being of course Manny Pacquiao. The only shame is that the rematch isn’t happening sooner, or it could have been an under card bout for Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Speaking to BoxingScene recently, Donaire said of the rematch:
“he always calls me out. He’s always doing that. There’s nothing new about Darchinyan. That’s how he is and that’s how he’ll always be. If they can make the fight happen that’s fine. I’m well ready for this fight and I’m actually excited to see that the fight will happen.”
For anyone who didn’t catch the fight, here is the full two rounds between Darchinyan and Rojas:
