Manny Pacquiao’s current status as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world may be beyond dispute, but he could soon be facing a challenge to that illustrious position from close to home.
Forget Floyd Mayweather: Pacquiao’s fellow Filipino Nonito Donaire returns to the ring on Saturday night and if he continues in the vein which has swept him to four consecutive stoppage victories, his name will soon be known way beyond Manila.
During his reign as a flyweight, super-flyweight and now bantamweight world champion, the big-hitting Donaire has shown his bravery in taking on and beating some of the best fellow punchers in the business.
He stunned the then unbeaten Australian Vic Darchinyan to win the IBF title via fifth-round knockout in Connecticut in July 2007, a win so conclusive Darchinyan ran a mile from what would have been a big-money rematch.
And Donaire proved himself again in his last fight in February this year, when he hammered the brilliant Mexican bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel to second-round defeat in Las Vegas.
Like Pacquiao, Donaire – who defends his bantamweight crown against Argentina’s long-unbeaten world super-flyweight champion Omar Narvaez at Madison Square Garden – professes no fear of his opponents or the pain they could inflict.
Donaire said: “No matter what it is I’m a warrior and I’ll fight with whatever I’ve got. You put your life on the line when you fight in the ring. I’m willing to give everything in there and I will never give up.
