I?m betting that Nonito Donaire?s fairly important fight Saturday against Toshiaki Nishioka won?t get much play in the San Francisco Chronicle, or in the San Jose Mercury News-Contra Costa Times-Oakland Tribune consortium.
Donaire, who lives in San Mateo, is defending the IBF and WBO super-bantamweight (122 pounds) titles and would be seeking Nishioka?s WBC title had it not been unfairly stripped last year. Donaire is ranked No. 5 in The Ring Magazine?s pound-for-pound rankings and that?s why he?s the headliner for HBO?s televising of the fight. The Ring will proclaim Saturday?s winner the true 122-pound world champ .
Donaire, who turns 30 next month, is attempting to corner all four major belts at 122, and he?ll have to take this one from a strong and crafty veteran who hasn?t lost in eight years. That said, Donaire is a prohibitive favorite, largely because his six-year age advantage (Nishioka is 36) will ensure a significant advantage for Donaire in speed and mobility. That?s a bit hard to promote.
Donaire 29-1, 18 knockouts), who is unbeaten since 2001, certainly has gained the Bay Area media?s attention during the past two years, but the newspapers practically ignored his July victory (I sought to cover it for the Chronicle) over Jeffrey Mathebula for the IBF title, which like Saturday?s bout was held in Carson, Calif., near Los Angeles, and also headlined on HBO.
This time the competition for newspaper coverage is brutal, with the San Francisco Giants alive in the major league baseball playoffs, the 49ers playing the New York Giants at home this weekend and the Oakland Raiders and Stanford football also holding sway.
I?ve been in contact with the two primary Bay Area newspaper sports editors in recent days, and I can tell you this Donaire fight will be lucky to get a small headline near the corset ads.
The overload of Bay Area activities this month is bad for Donaire?s fight. Unlike Saturday?s bout, my coverage of Donaire?s fight last October for the Mercury News had a Madison Square Garden-New York angle going for it. The Donaire coverage I shepherded in the Chronicle last February got space because it was a relatively slow Saturday.
The pre-fight hype last week seemed pointed toward the newspaper quandary, since online boxing writers already consider it a pretty important fight for a very important fighter. Everyone notes that there?s far more conflict in the sub-main. Brandon Rios? junior-welterweight debut against Mike Alvarado will be a Katie-bar-the-door affair if Rios brings the same thunder at 140 that he demonstrated at 135.
HBO?s Max Kellerman went as far as to tell me last month that this is a can?t-miss card primarily because the Rios-Alvarado match is his favorite fight-of-the-year candidate.
Promoter Bob Arum addressed that last week, showing his huckster side. ?I had the opportunity to watch Toshiaki Nishioka when he fought Rafael M?rquez, and he is a terrific fighter,? Arum said gamely. ?And we know that Nonito is one of the great fighters in boxing, but he?s going to have his hands full. I believe that his fight with Nishioka will be as exciting and as interesting as the co-feature with Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado.?
Is Nishioka (34-4-3, 24 knockouts) the ideal opponent for Donaire?
?This is a fight that Nonito has wanted for a very long time,? said his manager, Cameron Dunkin. ?Nishioka is a great fighter. Nonito is one of the great fighters fighting today and also in history. These are the kinds of fights that you get excited about because this is really a historic fight.?
Added Robert Garcia, Donaire?s trainer: ?Nishioka is a great fighter and the best in the division. He is ranked as the best super bantamweight in the world. It?s going to be a really tough fight.?
Donaire is less equivocal, although ?we can?t let our guard down.? That?s especially true of avoiding the Japanese left-hander?s power shots.
?One thing he will try to do is land the straight left,? Donaire said, ?and that is difficult to do against me. Aside from that, I haven?t seen in any tape that he can do damage. He did great against M?rquez, but M?rquez is a lot slower than me. A lot of those punches won?t land on me with power.?
He indicated that he?s been too knockout-conscious in recent fights, loading up too much, and the plan this time is ?the old Nonito Donaire way of fighting smart.?
If there?s a knockout, he wants it to be one of those counter left hooks from nowhere, ?which is what I was known for ? lightning fast counters that were knocking people out because they never saw it coming.?
But even that might not be enough of a hook for the Bay Area?s metro dailies this weekend.
