By Chris Williams: Nonito Donaire (33-3, 21 KOs) will be back in action next month in a confidence builder type fight against little known 2nd tier fighter named William Prado (22-4-1, 15 KOs) on March 28th at the Mll of Asia in the Philippines.
The Donaire-Prado fight will take place in the super bantamweight division, as the 32-year-old Donaire is moving back down from the featherweight division following a 6th round knockout loss to WBA featherweight champion Nicholas Walters last October in Carson, California.
There’s not much to say about Prado, 31, other than he’s from Brazil, and he’s lost three out of his last six fights since 2012. Prado has suffered losses to Paulus Ambunda, Jeremy Parodi, and Scott Quigg. Prado was knocked out in just three rounds by Quigg in 2013. That’s obviously a sign that Prado won’t last long against Donaire.
Prado has good punching power, and you never know if he can get Donaire out of there. Prado will need to try and get to Donaire quickly before he has a chance of getting his own offense in gear. It’s not a good sign that Prado was knocked out early by Quigg.
Donaire’s father/trainer is hoping to work him hard in training camp to get him back to where he was earlier in his career. It was only three years ago that Donaire was named the 2012 Fighter of the Year for a handful of wins over aging fighters like Jorge Arce and Toshiaki Nishioka, as well as Jeffrey Mathebula and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. None of those guys are major players in the super bantamweight division nowadays, because the division has gotten a lot better recently with a lot of talented fighters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5oQPxL4cs
That’s why it’s going to be difficult for Donaire to find a place for himself in this weight class. It might be better for Donaire to skip the super bantamweight division and move back down to bantamweight.
If Donaire doesn’t wind up weight drained in taking off the weight, he could use his size advantage over the smaller bantamweights to pick up a world title or two.
At 32, it’s strange that Donaire is being matched so softly following his loss to Walters. When you’re as old and as experienced as Donaire, you would think that he doesn’t need confidence builder type fights. Donaire should be able to bounce back and face top level opposition.
Putting him in with a soft touch at this point in his career is really a waste of time for him. Donaire should be in with highly ranked world class opposition if not putting him in with one of the champions at 122.
Donaire needs to fight out sooner rather than later whether he still has the talent needed for him to win a world title in the super bantamweight division. Donaire previously held the IBF and WBO 122 pound titles in the past. He lost his belts against Guillermo Rigondeaux back in April of 2013. But since that loss, Donaire has fought Vic Darchinyan, Simpiwe Vetyeka and Nicholas Walters.
Donaire has not looked like the same fighter he once was, and it’s possible that his loss to Rigondeaux may have took what’s left of Donaire’s prime away.
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