By Chris Williams: WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) isn’t going to let Nonito Donaire (31-2, 21 KO’s) off the hook after hearing Donaire say on HBO last Saturday night that he wants to face Rigondeaux next. It made for a good sound bite at the time, but then Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum quickly revealed two days later that he has plans for Donaire to face WBA featherweight champion Nicholas Walters next for his title.
Arum didn’t mention Rigondeaux at all as a future opponent for Donaire, so it looks like Donaire was merely name dropping when he mentioned Rigondeaux’s name last Saturday night.
Rigondeaux said this on his twitter: “I’m the 122lb king @filipinoflash if u want it come get it #Miami March 2014@HBOboxing @trboxing @CaribeBoxing @LOUISFONSECA #CubanBoxing.”
If Rigondeaux is going to get a rematch with Donaire then he’s going to have to call him out often in the media because if he stays silent about him, it’s doubtful that Donaire will push his promoter Bob Arum into making the fight. It really doesn’t look like Arum is excited about another fight between Donaire and Rigondeaux for some reason, and it’s pretty easy to see why. Rigondeaux doesn’t have a huge fan base in the U.S, whereas Donaire does.
So even if Rigondeaux beats Donaire again, Rigondeaux’s fan base likely won’t increase that much. But Donaire’s fan base could take a major hit with him getting beaten for a 2nd time, and I don’t think Arum wants that. He can match Donaire against title holders like Walters and then maybe keep him in position as the WBA featherweight champion for 2-3 years as long as he doesn’t match Donaire against the top dogs in the featherweight division like Orlando Salido, Gary Russell Jr., Vasyl Lomachenko, Jhonny Gonzalez, and Evgeny Gradovich.
Getting Donaire the WBA title, will let him face the top 15 contenders the World Boxing Association has ranked and there’s no real names there other than Russell Jr., who is looking to fight for the WBO title. With the guys that the WBA has ranked in the top 15 at featherweight at the present moment. Donaire could hold onto that title for years to come if all he does is defend his title against those contenders.
Rigondeaux should probably forget about Donaire because it doesn’t look like Arum has plans on putting Donaire back in with him. Donaire has said in the past that he’s not the one that makes the fights. It’s his promoter, and it doesn’t look like Arum wants to chance it with Donaire getting beaten a second time by Rigondeaux.
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