Filipino-American Nonito Donaire gets a chance to wrest the IBF and IBO flyweight titles from the hard-punching Vic ‘Raging Bull’ Darchinyan when they meet on July 7 in a 12-round bout in Las Vegas.
With the chance, Donaire gets the opportunity to avenge the defeat suffered by his brother Glenn at the hands of Darchinyan, whom the latter bested in a bout at the Mandalay Bay last year.
Darchinyan, however, has also said he is out to avenge his technical decision win over Glenn Donaire, saying that he wanted a knockout in his resume and this he will try to do on the other Donaire.
Darchinyan led on points on all three judges cards at the end of the sixth round, after which Glenn Donaire complained of a jaw injury. The referee then ruled the injury was caused by a head clash and not by a punch, thereby rendering a technical decision result rather than a knockout, which until now still rankles the brash Australian.
The Darchinyan-Donaire showdown will be aired by American pay television network Showtime.
Nonito Donaire (17-1, 10 KO’s) solidified his crack at Darchinyan with a first-round technical knockout last Friday over journeyman Kevin Hudgins at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
The 24-year-old Donaire, born in General Santos City but now fighting out of San Leandro, California, holds the NABF superflyweight title and had earlier vowed to avenge the defeat of his brother at the hands of Darchinyan.
Darchinyan (28-0, 22 KO’s), considered as the hardest-punching flyweight in the world today, has beaten three Filipino fighters so far in Sylvio Glenogo (TKO2), Diosdado Gabi (TKO8) and Glenn Donaire (Tech Dec. 6).
