Donaire still wants to compete as featherweight

MANILA, Philippines – Five-division world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. is willing to simultaneously compete as a super bantamweight and featherweight despite an earlier report that he decided to jump back to 122 pounds on a permanent basis.

His manager Cameron Dunkin revealed that Donaire (33-3, 21 knockouts) had considered to make his return to the super bantamweight division, where unified three title belts in 2012 by thumping the likes of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Jeffrey Mathebula and Toshiaki Nishioka.

Moreover, the 32-year-old Pinoy pugilist concluded his impressive 2012 campaign on a high note by thwarting future hall-of-famer Jorge Arce in the third round and then receiving the “Fighter of the Year” award from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

However, the 5-foot-5 switch-hitter tasted a disappointing defeat the following year as he yielded to Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux via unanimous decision.

After his lackluster performance against Rigondeaux, Donaire climbed up to featherweight and had a triumphant run in his first two outings, pulling off a come-from-behind victory over Vic Darchinyan in a November 2013 rematch before beating Simpiwe Vetyeka by technical decision to capture the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight strap in May 2014.

Donaire unfortunately failed to make it three in a row as a 126-pound competitor when he dropped the WBA world title to Nicholas Walters this past October.

Walters knocked out Donaire with a powerful overhand right to the left temple that sent “The Filipino Flash” crashing down to the canvas in the sixth round.

Although he suffered an excruciating setback to Walters, Donaire remains optimistic that he could strut his wares at both weight classes.

“I think that I can do both weight classes. I can go down in weight or I could go up in weight. I think that I’m right there on that cusp where I can do both and be strong in both. It’s just a matter of me settling in,” he said in an interview with The Ring magazine. 

Top Rank Promotions chief Bob Arum reportedly eyes Donaire’s return to action in the second quarter of 2015 and plans to stage the bout in the Philippines or Macau, but the Filipino fighter disclosed that it could happen in March.

“They’re looking at a return in March and whatever they decide, I’ll be ready. But there’s no point in going in there and saying it’s going to be a close fight. I want to be able to go in there and say that I’m going to beat these guys,” Donaire stated.

The potential counterpart that Donaire could face in his homecoming to super bantamweight is World Boxing Council titleholder Leo Santa Cruz, but if he decides to stay at featherweight, he prefers to lock horns with three-division titlist Abner Mares.

“There are now a lot of fights out there that are now possible. You’ve the Mares fight, [and] you’ve got the Santa Cruz fight. You’ve got all of these guys that people have wanted to watch for a long time,” he stressed.

Donaire asserted that these kinds of high-profile matches can now come into fruition as Arum recently ended a long feud with Golden Boy Promotion’s Oscar De La Hoya.

Arum handles Donaire’s boxing affairs since 2008, while Sta. Cruz and Mares fight under the Golden Boy banner.

“We should have been doing these fights a long time ago. There should never be a war between the promoters. It should be a war in the ring between the fighters. Boxing should always be about making the best fights possible for the fans,” Donaire pointed out. – Rappler.com