Donaire wants a world title shot at 122 by the end of 2015

By Boxing News - 03/30/2015 - Comments

donaire145By Chris Williams: After beating an over-matched William Prado (22-5-1, 15 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout last Saturday night at the Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, former four division world champion Nonito Donaire (34-3, 22 KOs) feels that he’s still got what it takes to be a top fighter at super bantamweight, and he wants to get a title shot by the end of 2015.

Donaire, 32, believes that he can compete with the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux and Leo Santa Cruz despite the fact that Donaire didn’t beat a 1st tier fighter in defeating the little known Prado.

Normally a fighter judges whether he can compete against champions by defeating a top five contender or another champion, but in this case Donaire defeated a 2nd tier fighter and is now proclaiming that he’s ready to compete against Rigondeaux and Santa Cruz. I’m not sure that it works like that.

“I think it’s definitely a statement on where Nonito Donaire is at. If I had trouble with him, I wasn’t at that level,” Donaire said via cnnphilippines.com. “You guys could see the difference in talent.”

To be sure, boxing fans could see the difference in talent between Donaire and Prado, but what do you expect the fans to see? Prado wasn’t a 1st tier fighter, and he was just some guy brought in as a confidence booster. You can’t learn anything from watching this fight about whether Donaire can compete against the best fighters in the 122 pound division, because Prado isn’t one of the best fighters. He was just another beatable guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xalE8VBfo14

Donaire isn’t going to find out about whether he has the talent to compete against the best fighters at 122 until he starts facing some of the best top five contenders like Luis Rosas, Kiko Martinez and Victor Terrazaz.

If Donaire can beat those guys in impressive fashion without being staggered or dropped, then you can say Donaire can compete against the top fighters at super bantamweight, but I have my doubts that Donaire will fight any of them. I see Donaire taking on a fringe contender in his next fight, and then looking to get a title shot against one of the champions.

The only champion at 122 who will give Donaire the title shot he wants at the end of the year in WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Rigondeaux. Leo Santa Cruz probably won’t, because his adviser is Al Haymon.

Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum doesn’t work with Haymon, so that pretty much rules out a fight between Donaire and Santa Cruz. If Donaire wants a world title shot in 2015, then he’s probably going to need to take the hard road by facing Rigondeaux, a fighter who totally schooled Donaire in April 2013 in beating him by a lopsided 12 round decision.

“But with my power and everything that I have, I did feel that I was above that level,” Donaire sad. “We got to see where I’m at in terms of my ability, and I feel like I’m still at that elite level. I can still compete with guys like (Guillermo) Rigondeaux and (Leo) Santa Cruz. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance against whoever,” said Donaire.

Donaire will definitely get his chance at fighting Rigondeaux again if he’s truly serious about wanting to face the tough Cuban fighter, but I think the outcome will be even more one-sided than their previous fight was. Additionally, I can’t believe that Arum would want to put Donaire anywhere close to the ring if Rigondeaux will be in it. It’s nice that Donaire is name dropping Rigondeaux’s name, but I see it as an empty gesture with no meaning other than getting attention from boxing fans. If Arum isn’t going to make the Donaire vs. Rigondeaux rematch, then there’s no point in Donaire mentioning the Cuban star’s name other than for the purpose of getting attention from the fans.



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