July 7th is right around the corner, as that date marks the return of one of boxing?s premier prizefighters, Nonito Donaire. The sport?s reigning WBO junior featherweight champion, Donaire will meet up with IBF champion Jeffrey Mathebula in an HBO attraction from the Home Depot Center in Carson California.
There is a lot of intrigue surrounding Donaire, whether the discussion is on his tremendous skillset, how far up he can rise in weight, or his potential opponents down the road. One man who is extremely high on the Filipino-American star is Showtime analyst Al Bernstein, who went as far as to tell me recently that the only person who can beat Donaire is himself.
Bernstein and I touched on a variety of topics during a recent sit-down, including the fascination of a Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sergio Martinez match, his reasons for favoring Andre Ward over Chad Dawson in their impeding clash, why he doesn?t prefer Jorge Arce as an opponent for Donaire, his take on the recent wave of fighters being caught with performance-enhancing drugs, and more. Advertisement
This is part of what Al had to share?
Thoughts on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and his recent stoppage of Andy Lee? ?I thought it was really a good fight. Really a fun fight to watch. Both fighters fought well; Andy Lee fought as well as he could in that fight. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has become, to me, a fascinating fighter in many regards. He?s grown physically so much; he?s big for a middleweight. How long he can keep fighting at middleweight is questionable. He?s strong, he has very poor defense, terrific offense, and apparently a very good chin. That is exactly, what I think makes a fan-friendly fighter. The question will be, is that a winning prescription against A-level fighters??
Sizing up a Chavez Jr. fight with Sergio Martinez? ?We?re going to know by round five I think, in the Chavez Jr.-Martinez fight. Because Martinez is going to land punches over the first five or six rounds against Chavez. Those stoppages you mentioned recently where he had to grind them out and get them out late in the fight, those fighters didn?t have the firepower that Chavez does. What?s going to be interesting is if Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. can survive those punches he?s going to get hit with in the first three or four rounds by Martinez and keep digging to the body like he does, keep the pressure on every second, you have to think if he can get that fight into round seven, eight or nine, it?s going to be a pretty interesting fight.?
Anticipating Andre Ward vs. Chad Dawson? ?I applaud both men for making it and a big, big plus for Andre Ward is that he got, he didn?t even have to work on it, Chad Dawson decided to come down and fight him at 168. I?m sure Chad Dawson did that for a couple of reasons. One, his 175-pound title is not on the line and he feels he can make 168; he?s done it before. But I think that?s very helpful to Andre Ward. Some people think it?s just going to be a tactical fight that?s not interesting. I don?t think so. I think they?ll engaged.?
Why he has to favor Ward? ?I went through the whole Super Six tournament doing Andre Ward?s fights and I think Andre Ward is the real deal. If I had to take these two fighters, Andre Ward and Chad Dawson, and I had to say who is going to find a way to win no matter what, when the chips are down, it?s hard for me not to pick Andre Ward.?
