Donaire likely to fight Nishioka next; Arce not available until September

By Chris Williams: According to boxing news from the Manila Standard, WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KO’s) won’t be facing 32-year-old former four division world champion Jorge Arce (59-6-2, 45 KO’s) next, says Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum.

Apparently, Arce, who faces Lorenzo Parra in a rematch this Saturday night in Mexicali, Mexico, won’t be available for a fight against Donaire until at least September. So, Arum may decide to put Donaire in with WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) in the summer.

Nishioka had been considered to be the best fighter at super bantamweight until Cuban star Guillermo Rigondeaux emerged as the top guy in the division. Now he’s the one to beat. However, Arum and Donaire don’t appear to be all that interested in facing Rigondeaux at this time, possibly due to the high risk involved in facing such a talent. There’s arguably much easier money to be made against Nishioka and Arce or some of the other fighters in the division. Rigondeaux might be better off left alone to keep the Donaire training on the tracks and making money.

A fight against Nihioka won’t be a big deal in the United States, because no one aside from hardcore boxing fans has ever heard of him. The fight will be a big deal in Japan where Nishioka lives and it might bring in a big gate attendance if Donaire chooses to fight Nihioka there. Most likely it will take place in Las Vegas. Nihioka looked terrible in beating 36-year-old Rafael Marquez by a 12 round decision last October. He won the fight but was hardly impressive given all the hype about him. Had Marquez been a little younger, I think he would have won every round of this fight and/or knocked Nishioka out. From that fight, I just saw nothing in Nishioka that suggested that he’s the best fighter in the division. Rigondeaux would likely do a number on him if given the chance.

Donaire took a beating in his recent win over Wilfredo Vazquez in capturing the vacant WBO super bantamweight title. Donaire’s power, although impressive at flyweight and super flyweight, had no effect on Vazquez in moving up in weight. As such, Donaire took a lot of punishment as you can see from looking at his face. Donaire will likely continue to take even worse punishment as he faces better opposition at super bantamweight and then featherweight. He’s clearly better off moving back down in weight to save himself from taking punishment in the future. It’s a trade off. If Donaire moves back down in weight, he’ll likely extend his career but possibly make less money. But if he stays at super bantamweight and then later moves up to featherweight, he could take too many hard head shots that could burn him quicker in the long run. It seems smarter to move back down to flyweight or super flyweight so that he can resume knocking guys out in the early rounds.

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