Nonito Donaire Jr. is open to fight anybody in and around the super featherweight and bantamweight divisions- ANYBODY.
As of right now though, his eyes are set on nobody else other than ‘The Raging Bull’ Vic Darchinyan.
Amidst Fernando Montiel’s big victory against Hozumi Hasegawa last weekend, Donaire was adamant that as of right now, a rematch with Darchinyan is all he wants.
“As of right now, it’s just been ridiculous how this has been going on for the longest time and finally when we’re about to make it happen, I don’t want it to just slip away. Showtime already gave this amount and it’s just up to the promoters to make a deal. The fighters are ready to go. Supposedly Darchinyan has already signed, as for me, I’m way signed. I don’t know what’s behind it and all that stuff, but from what I hear, it should be good to go on August 21st,” Donaire told me in my most recent interview with him last Saturday.
Donaire however is open to fight Montiel in the future, but only after he faces Darchinyan in the ring once again. He said, “I think it’s a good fight at 118. We were scheduled to fight once in the Philippines and it never happened. I wanted to fight him for the longest time but somehow it never came my way, but right now I’m too close to let go of a deal with Darchinyan. I’ve wanted this fight for the longest time,” and added, “I knocked him out and I’ll knock him out again just to end his mouth and this whole thing he’s saying that I got lucky and all this stuff.”
I could sense the built up frustration in Donaire as he has missed out on several big fights thus far in his career. Ring magazine’s number 5 ranked pound for pound best fighter in the world has not fought any marquee names since joining Top Rank promotions two years ago and if the rematch against Darchinyan somehow falls through, I wouldn’t be the least surprised if the Bay area pugilist starts looking elsewhere to steer his career in the right direction.
As much as I respect and think Top Rank is one of the top promotional companies in boxing, the way they have promoted and managed Donaire’s career leaves much to be desired. For one, they could have him fight as the main under card of a Manny Pacquiao fight or set up a big fight against one of their big named stars like Montiel and Jorge Arce who recently left the Top Rank banner.
Check out my full interview with Donaire in the video posted below.
