A report that Nonito Donaire will be fighting March 28 at the Mall of Asia Arena near Manila has been confirmed by several members of the fighter?s family.
Although Donaire has agreed to the date and site, no opponent has been named, and that tells you that it probably will be a tune-up fight, perhaps against someone most of us have never heard of.
The identity of the opponent might be the key to whether the bout is staged at 126 pounds, the weight at which Donaire has fought his past three bouts, or 122, the weight class he dominated with four victories in 2012 en route to earning most of the world?s fighter of the year awards.
Although Donaire is 32, which he acknowledges is rather old for a fighter in his weight classes, and time therefore would seem to be a-wastin? as far as his beating someone prominent and restoring some of the luster he has lost since 2012, he could use a breather. He hasn?t had an easy fight since his third-round stopped of Jorge Arce in December 2012.
Philippines boxing writing eminence Ronnie Nathanielsz reported the deal.
It?s difficult to picture the venue based on the report, but it?s really no more incongruous to stage a fight at a major shopping mall than at a Las Vegas hotel complex.
Donaire, who was born in the Philippines but has lived most of his life in the Bay Area, hasn?t fought in his native country since his spectacular April 2009 stoppage of Texan Raul Martinez at the famed Areneta Coliseum near Quezon City.
It seems conceivable that we won?t be able to see the March bout unless promoter Bob Arum stages a second-tier pay-per-view transmission.
At least Donaire is returning fairly quickly from his October knockout loss to Nicholas Walters, which cost him the WBA featherweight championship. This fight seems unlikely to earn him a world title, but he?s in comeback mode now and he has to start somewhere.
