By Chris Williams: WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (26-1, 18 KO’s) will be returning to the ring for a unification bout against WBA bantamweight champion Anselmo Moreno on May 28th. Also on the card will be unbeaten welterweight contender Mike Jones (24-0, 18 KO’s) against Canadian contender Antonin Decarie (25-1, 7 KO’s). The Moreno-Donaire fight seems hardly worth it because Moreno is totally unknown in the United States and winning another useless alphabet title doesn’t really give Donaire the shot in the arm that his people think it will be.

When you’re capturing paper titles, you get diminishing returns. It was good that Donaire stopped Fernando Montiel in his last fight, but if your goal is to move up in weight and take on the likes of Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa, fighting unknowns like Moreno is like spinning your wheels and staying in the same place. Bob Arum must see some kind of gain in this fight with Moreno because I can’t see it. Moreno is a slapper and a mover, and on top of that, he’s a southpaw.

There is no upside in Donaire fighting this guy unless Arum is going to sleep on Donaire’s career and putting him in with less than big names he was doing for the four years after Donaire stopped Vic Darchinyan in 2007. Donaire’s career basically stalled after that win, as he was put in with one dull opponent after another, ones that boxing fans didn’t care about. They cared about the Montiel and Darchinyan fights, but they won’t care about Moreno because he’s not on the same level as Darchinyan and Montiel.

Jones recently defeated Jesus Soto-Karass by a 12 round decision in their rematch on February 19th. Jones got the win but still looked stiff, slow and wide open on defense. He’s trying to get a title shot but Jones doesn’t look in the same league as guys like Andre Berto or Manny Pacquiao. Jones might be able to beat a guy like WBA welterweight paper champion Vyacheslav Senchenko, but who really cares if he fights and beats him? Jones is a good B level fighter in a C level division. No way is Jones an A class fighter because he’s way too flawed and is getting up there in age.