By Chris Williams: IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) may be getting former WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) at the right time in his career now that he’s 36-years-old and coming off of one of his more less than impressive performances last October in struggling to beat Rafael Marquez.

Donaire and Nishioka will be fighting on October 13th at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. Donaire wanted this fight because Nishioka is still ranked #1 in the Ring Magazine rankings despite the signs that his physical skills are starting to fade. The more logical fight would be for Donaire to take on the #2 fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux, and if successful against him then take on Nishioka.

Rigondeaux is considered by a lot of hardcore boxing fans to be the real best fighter in the super bantamweight division at this time, and not Nishioka. That’s the thing about the ratings. It sometimes takes a while for them to catch up to reality. We saw that with 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins still being ranked above Chad Dawson in the Ring Ratings despite Dawson appearing to be the best fighter in the division for the past three years.

I see the super bantamweight ratings being just as behind with the Ring Ratings. Nishioka would be lucky if he could beat Rico Ramos at this point in his career. That’s not to say that Nishioka wasn’t a great fighter in his prime, but things change when you get up there in age like him.

Sadly, Nishioka doesn’t believe he’s getting old, saying to the Japantimes.co.jp, “You got my age wrong by 10 years. I don’t feel any decline or whatsoever in myself at all. If I did, I would’ve quit by now.”

I saw some definite decline in Nishioka’s last fight, and I think we’re going to see it in his fight against Donaire in a big way.