Donaire vs. Maldonado On Saturday

By Jonas Muller: International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Nonita Donaire (18-1, 11 KOs) will be defending his title on Saturday night against Luis Maldonado (37-1-1, 28 KOs) at the Foxwoods Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Donaire, 25, is coming off a sensational 5th round TKO of IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan in July, a bout in which Donaire dominated every round of the fight before ultimately dropping Darchinyan with a huge left hook.

It was a huge upset, as Darchinyan was expected by most experts to defeat the little known Donaire, who before that bout had faced mostly lower level fighters. Donaire, 25, simply had too much speed for Darchinyan, and was able to catch the Armenian fighter repeatedly with powerful left hooks until the bitter end.

Maldonado, 29, though he has an excellent record at 37-1, he’s done it against mainly C-level fighters, except when he stepped it up last year was stopped in the 8th round by Vic Darchinyan. Maldonado also fought to a 12-round draw with Cristian Mijares, the same fighter who defeat Jorge Arce in a dominating fashion, taking his World Boxing Council super featherweight title in 2007. Maldonado’s draw against Mijares proves that he can fight well against top opposition as long as they don’t punch as hard as Drachinyan.

Maldonado figures to have big problems with Donaire, because the Filipino fighter is much faster than the opposition that Maldonado has faced thus far in his career. More than that, Donaire has power to go along with his speed, which will make it tough for Maldonado.