After so much talk about his last fight being a dud, Nonito Donaire is anxious to make his upcoming 122-pound debut against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. an exciting night for fans.
Donaire-Vazquez, which will be televised on HBO from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 4, will be for the WBO’s title that was vacated by Jorge Arce, who dethroned Vazquez Jr. (21-1-1, 17 KOs) by 12th-round knockout on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s unanimous decision over Shane Mosley in May.
Promoted by Top Rank Inc., Donaire (27-1, 18 KOs) is coming off October’s unanimous decision over WBO junior bantamweight beltholder Omar Narvaez, who used a purely defensive style and lost every round on the cards of the three judges at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
THE RING’S No. 4-rated pound-for-pound fighter, Donaire weighed in at a surprisingly light 116.25 pounds for Narvaez, after having having tipped the scales at 118 pounds for each of his previous bantamweight bouts — a fourth-round knockout of Wladimir Sidorenko in his division debut in December of last year, and a follow-up second-round stoppage of three-division titlewinner Fernando Montiel in February.
Click here for a story that contains video of the weigh-in.
Donaire walks around at about 145 pounds, weighed 124 pounds two days prior to facing Narvaez, and entered the ring at nearly 132 pounds, necessitating his rise into what he feels is the more natural 122-pound class.
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