When WBC/WBO Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire steps his foot into the ring on Saturday night, he will be the first Filipino to compete in a Madison Square Garden main event since Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde lost by 14th-round knockout to WBA Lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz in November of 1966. Incidentally, Elorde is one of the inspirational heroes of Donaire, who first saw Elorde box on a video which was given to him by the renowned Filipino media man Ronnie Nathanielsz about ten years ago. Donaire was fascinated by Elorde?s modern style and watched the videotape repeatedly, according to Nathanielsz.
Omar Narvaez is 36 years old and has never lost a professional fight. The southpaw turned pro in December 2000 after boxing in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics where he lost to Mehdi Assous and Wladimir Sidorenko, respectively, in the second round. Narvaez has accumulated a record of 35-0-2 (19 KO?s). He won the WBO Flyweight title nine years ago (W 12 Adonis Rivas) before moving up last May to win the WBO Super Flyweight title (W 12 Everth Briceno). None of his opponents names are recognizable though. All of his fights were in Argentina except for three in France, and one each in Spain and Italy. This will be his American debut.
