Nonito Donaire vs. Cristian Mijares on July 14th at the Cowboys Stadium

By Boxing News - 02/29/2012 - Comments

Image: Nonito Donaire vs. Cristian Mijares on July 14th at the Cowboys StadiumBy Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KO’s) doesn’t want to fight a unification bout against WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeux because he finds his fighting style uninteresting and feels he’s not well known enough. So instead of taking on a champion with excellent power in Rigondeaux, Donaire will be facing IBF/WBA/WBC super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares (44-6-2, 20 KO’s) on July 14th at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.

If you’ve seen any of Mijares’ fights, you’ll notice that he’s incredibly boring to watch and he has little in the way of power. He’s a pure boxer in other words who gets his wins by finesse rather than power. I’m kind of speechless because this choice of opponent is a clear step or two below Rigondeaux.

Donaire looks to be taking the easy path by choosing Mijares, who has only two fights under him at super bantamweight and isn’t even ranked in the division. Mijares is ranked #4 IBF and #7 WBA in the bantamweight division but not in the super bantamweight division. So why fight Mijares? Well, the Donaire-Mijares fight will be taking place at the Cowboy’s stadium in Arlington, Texas. That kind of answers the question right there. Mijares is Mexican and Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum likely wants to pack the card with a number of Hispanic fighters in order attract Mexican fans from the nearby arena. Juan Manuel Marquez is rumored to be fighting on the card against Filipino Mercito Gesta. So we have two possible Mexican vs. Filipino fights on the card if Marquez agrees to the fight.

If the Mijares-Donaire fight had taken place in 2007 or 2008, I’d be okay with it, but not now, not after seeing Mijares get manhandled by both Vic Darchinyan and Nehomar Cermeno in 2008 and 2009. Darchinyan destroyed Mijares by a 9th round knockout in November 2008, whereas Cermeno beat Mijares twice in 2009 and gave him a real pounding. Mijares has done a good job of coming back from those defeats to win his last eight fights, but he hasn’t faced anyone of real quality since those defeats. He has fought twice at super bantamweight, but against fighters well below Donaire’s talent level.

Donaire was supposed to be fighting super bantamweight contender Victor Terrazas (32-2-1, 18 KO’s), but I’m not sure what happened there with that opponent. I rate Terranzas as a much better fighter at Mijares at super bantamweight. He can punch better and is a solid fighter at this weight. But I guess you have to figure that Terranzas was too dangerous because he fits the requirements for the fight being that he’s Mexican, but he’s like a step up from the last guy that Donaire fought Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and I doubt that Arum wants to see the Donaire gravy train derailed before it’s even gotten to a full head of steam. As such, guys like Rigondeaux and Terranzas aren’t fighting Donaire. Instead, we get a light hitting Mijares, who really should be still fighting at super flyweight because there’s no place for him at bantamweight or super bantamweight due to his lack of power.

Mijares’ best wins of his career have come against Jorge Arce in April 2007 and Alexander Munoz in May 2008. Other than those wins, Mijares doesn’t have any other important wins.



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