Donaire following Pacquiao's lead

Rafael

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: October 31, 2008

Donaire hopes to emulate Pacquiao

Like millions of Filipinos, Nonito Donaire idolizes Manny Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound king and national hero of his country.

Although Donaire may never achieve the gargantuan success of Pacquiao -- a world champion in five divisions who is about to face Oscar De La Hoya in a huge fight Dec. 6 -- he has already gained a measure of fame and success inside the ring.

In July 2007, Donaire scored a major upset by starching Vic Darchinyan in the fifth round in a knockout of the year candidate. The victory secured Donaire a flyweight title. That's the same division where Pacquiao claimed his first championship.

Donaire, who now lives in San Leandro in Northern California, and Pacquiao have even more in common -- they both grew up in General Santos City and Donaire's mother, Imelda, a teacher, taught Pacquiao in one of her grade school classes.

Nonito Donaire

Marty Rosengarten for Ringsidephotos.com

Nonito Donaire, above, is quickly following in Manny Pacquiao's successful footsteps.

Like most Filipino boxers, Donaire credits Pacquiao with igniting the passion for boxing in their country.

"He's the key. He was the key to opening the door," Donaire said. "He's done everything for all the Filipino fighters and there's no way we can thank him for everything. I mean, just endless thanks, because he's done a lot for the Philippines, for the Filipino community and for the Filipino fighters, for me as well. So, we just bow our head. We're just thankful for him being there.

"I'm taking my own path, but one thing I'm thankful for is the fact that Manny's in front of me and he's giving me all these examples. He's giving me this determination to fight hard. That's just how it is for me."

Donaire (19-1, 12 KOs) has defended his title once, scoring a one-sided eighth-round TKO of Luis Maldonado in December before cutting ties with promoter Gary Shaw and signing with Top Rank.

Now, Donaire is ready for his first bout under Top Rank, which signed him over the summer.

He'll face South African mandatory challenger Moruti Mthalane (22-1, 15 KOs) Saturday night (Top Rank PPV, 9 ET) at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in the co-featured fight on the "Final Impact" card headlined by the Julio Cesar Chavez-Matt Vanda junior middleweight rematch.

Final Impact

TV lineup for Top Rank's pay-per-view show Saturday night (9 ET) from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas:

• Junior middleweights: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (37-0-1, 29 KOs) vs. Matt Vanda (39-7, 22 KOs), rematch, 10 rounds

• Flyweights: Nonito Donaire (19-1, 12 KOs) vs. Moruti Mthalane (22-1, 15 KOs), 12 rounds, for Donaire's title

• Junior bantamweights: Jorge Arce (50-4-1, 38 KOs) vs. Isidro "Chino" Garcia (25-5-2, 8 KOs), 12 rounds, for Arce's interim title

• Junior welterweights: Lamont Peterson (25-0, 12 KOs) vs. Lanardo Tyner (19-1, 11 KOs), 10 rounds

• Middleweights: Matvey Korobov (0-0) vs. Mario Evangelista (1-1-1, 1 KO), 4 rounds

Also on the five-bout televised card, middleweight amateur star Matvey Korobov, a 2008 Russian Olympian and amateur world champion, makes his professional debut.

There is one fight on the card Donaire may want to pay close attention to besides his own as Jorge Arce (50-4-1, 38 KOs) defends his interim junior bantamweight belt against Isidro "Chino" Garcia (25-5-2, 8 KOs).

Donaire, 25, intends to move up in weight after the fight and if he and the popular Mexican star Arce are successful in their bouts, Top Rank's Bob Arum hopes to match them in early 2009.

"If that's the fight that can make money for me, then I will fight him," Arce said. "It's probably a good fight for me. I wouldn't mind going to the Philippines either if there is more money there … I don't care if Pacquiao, [Filipino world titleholder] Gerry Penalosa and Glenn Donaire [Nonito's professional fighting brother] are the three judges, I'll go fight him over there."

Unlike the outspoken Arce, Donaire didn't want to look past Mthalane.

"Right now I have a guy in front of me who's trying to take my belt, who's trying to take away everything that I have," Donaire said when asked about Arce. "If that fight happens with Arce next year, then that's when I'll focus on that."

Arum said he's had significant interest in the fight from Filipino television networks and casinos in Macau, China.

"They're both really crowd-pleasing kids, they make great fights and they're pleasant to be around," Arum said. "They're guys who are friendly with each other outside the ring, and go to war inside the ring. It's a huge fight. But they have to win their fights on Saturday."

Hopkins-Pavlik PPV bombs

Forty-three-year-old Bernard Hopkins' domination of Kelly Pavlik in their 170-pound bout Oct. 18 was one of the most stunning results in recent boxing history. Not all that many people saw it, however, because the pay-per-view tanked.

Kelly Pavlik

Icon SMI

Good fight, bad ratings: Bernard Hopkins' clash with Kelly Pavlik bombed in pay-per-view sales.

"The pay-per-view numbers sucked. It did only about 190,000. It's very disappointing," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who handles Pavlik, told ESPN.com.

The total was well below pre-fight expectations.

"I think it was mostly the economy," Arum said. "I think when people have a choice in hard economic times and they can be entertained for free with football games and so forth, they'll opt to watch the football game rather than pay the money to watch the fight."

CEO Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, which promotes Hopkins, added, "The pay-per-view was definitely disappointing. Most people who watch pay-per-view do it by having parties, but in these economic times, who the heck feels like partying? It was a big disappointment. There's no question the economy had an impact."

Angulo looking to step up

Every young fighter needs to pass a stiff test to go from prospect to contender and promoter Gary Shaw thinks he has just the bout for dynamic junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs), the 2004 Mexican Olympian who has been so impressive in recent HBO bouts.

Alfredo Angulo

John Pyle/Icon SMI

Alfredo Angulo, above, is angling toward a fight with Ricardo Mayorga.

Shaw wants to match Angulo with brawling ex-titlist Ricardo Mayorga (28-7-1, 22 KOs), who is never in a bad fight and pushed Shane Mosley to the limit before being stopped in the 12th round in September. Shaw told ESPN.com that he's had positive conversations with Mayorga attorney Tony Gonzalez about the fight (because promoter Don King is out of the country), as well as HBO.

"I went to HBO and asked them if I could do Mayorga and they said absolutely. They love the fight," Shaw said. "We're trying to make the fight for February or March. It's the kind of fight that could really establish Angulo, but it's also a test. Mayorga can really crack. Tony was very interested.

"Mayorga has been in big fights and beaten guys like Vernon [Forrest] and Fernando Vargas and he's been in with guys like Shane and [Oscar] De La Hoya, so he's more than a legitimate test for Angulo. It would be one of those fun fights. I hope I can pull it off."

Hanging 'em up

One of boxing's foremost opponents, 39-year-old Peter Buckley of England, will close his career Friday night with his 300th bout. Buckley, who turned pro in 1989, began his career with a six-round draw and enters his last fight having boxed an astonishing 1,734 rounds with a record of 31-256-12 (8 KOs).

Peter Buckley

John Gichigi/Getty Images

Perennial loser Peter Buckley is hanging up the gloves for good on Friday.

The professional trial horse, who has been stopped only 10 times in all of those defeats, has faced dozens of fighters on the rise, including 42 future world, European, Commonwealth or British champions.

For his finale, Buckley will fight in his hometown of Birmingham against Matin Mohammed (0-0-1), whom he drew with Oct. 5.

"Win lose or draw, this is definitely my last fight," Buckley said. "I've had my eye on the 300 mark for a while, and it's a little milestone I want to achieve, but I don't want to fight on. People keep saying to me that I'll get a call in a few weeks' time offering me a fight and I'll say yes, but I mean it when I say this is it."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
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QUICK HITS

Margarito

• Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer met with Shane Mosley this week to discuss his next fight and while Schaefer is still working out the economics, he said Mosley prefers to face welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24 rather than titleholder Andre Berto, who was also in the running for the HBO fight. "We went through the numbers that I put together," Schaefer said. "Shane will fight anyone, but he does have a preference for Margarito, so I am continuing to work on it with [Top Rank promoter] Bob [Arum]." Said Arum: "HBO has come with some more money but now Schaefer has to deliver Shane and I have to meet with the Margarito people. But I assume it will get done." Schaefer and Arum have discussed Steven Luevano, Top Rank's featherweight titlist, facing Golden Boy's Rocky Juarez in the TV opener, either for Luevano's title or in a 128-pound catchweight bout. Arum said another possibility for the co-feature was Top Rank junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez defending against Golden Boy bantamweight titlist Gerry Penalosa. HBO prefers Luevano-Juarez.

Cotto

• Top Rank and HBO are in discussions for split-site doubleheader on Feb. 21. Arum told ESPN.com that if the deal is worked out it would look like this: ex-welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto would return from his loss to Margarito to face either Kermit Cintron or Jose Soto Karass in Atlantic City, N.J., to be followed on the broadcast by Kelly Pavlik returning from his loss to Bernard Hopkins to defend the middleweight title against mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio at the Chevy Center in his native Youngstown, Ohio. In each arena, the other bout would be shown live on big screens, Arum said. "There's conversation, but it's not a deal yet," Arum said. "But it would be a great night for boxing. HBO came up with the idea and I like it."

Latimore

• Promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com he is finalizing a deal to become the co-promoter of St. Louis junior middleweight Deandre Latimore (19-1, 16 KOs). The 23-year-old burst on the scene in June with an ESPN2-televised seventh-round upset knockout of Sechew Powell. "I think he's a tremendous prospect," DiBella said. "People don't realize he's only 23. He beat Powell, which was very impressive and he's a good TV fighter. I'll be working with Steve Smith's Rumble Time Promotions, which brought Deandre to this point. He's going to be in the picture for the vacant IBF title, so we will pursue that possibility against Cory Spinks. A fight between him and Spinks [also from St. Louis] would be a huge event in St. Louis. There are a lot of opportunities for Deandre."

Khan

• British lightweight super prospect Amir Khan, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist who suffered a stunning first-round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in September, launches his comeback Dec. 6 in London. However, Khan (18-1, 14 KO), who recently hired Freddie Roach as his fourth trainer in four bouts and has been training at his gym in Hollywood, Calif., will face Oisin Fagan (22-5, 13 KOs) without Roach in his corner because of a scheduling conflict. Roach will be in Las Vegas for pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, who faces Oscar De La Hoya. There was an attempt to put Khan's fight on that card, but it didn't work out. There was also talk of Khan -- who sparred with Pacquiao this week -- laying off for the rest of the year. Filling in for Roach in the corner will be Dean Powell, who trained Khan for his June win against Michael Gomez. Junior lightweight titlist Nicky Cook headlines in his first defense against an opponent to be named.

Andrade

• Junior middleweight Demetrius Andrade, the No. 1 pro prospect from the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, will have his second professional fight Nov. 29, co-promoter Artie Pelullo told ESPN.com. Andrade, who turned pro Oct. 23 with a smashing second-round knockout of Patrick Cape, will fight on the Verno Phillips-Paul Williams undercard in Ontario, Calif., or on a card in his hometown of Providence, R.I., Pelullo said.

Bika

• Super middleweight Sakio Bika (26-3-2, 16 KOs), who won the third season of "The Contender" last November but has fought only once since -- a first-round knockout win in Australia in April -- is anxious for his bout with first-season runner-up Peter Manfredo (31-5, 16 KOs) on Nov. 13 (Versus), which will take place in Manfredo's hometown of Providence, R.I. "It will be good fighting back in the states again," Bika said. "This year has not been great for me in the boxing ring. My wife had a baby in June and, hence, I wanted to enjoy my time with my new son, Jordan. Hopefully, next year will be a lot busier for me. New England brings back fond memories of one of my greatest boxing successes. I hope to continue that success against Manfredo in New England in November, which is the same month I won 'The Contender' last year." Bika stopped Jaidon Codrington in the final in Boston a year ago.

Marquez

• Big underdog Raul Marquez (41-3-1, 29 KOs), preparing for his delayed mandatory challenge against middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs) on Nov. 8 in Germany (Integrated Sports PPV, 3 p.m. ET), believes Abraham is looking past him. "I'm an old pro, a crafty veteran who is even more motivated after seeing Hopkins beat Pavlik, old beating young, and I have a lot of experience over Abraham," Marquez, 37, said. "I don't know why Abraham just doesn't say he's focused on me like I would, but he keeps mentioning Pavlik or [Felix] Sturm and you can't tell me he isn't looking ahead, no matter what he says. I read a lot about boxing and he still has to beat me in a very tough fight to get Pavlik, unless, of course, he plans to pull out of our fight again. And I know he has had trouble fighting southpaws, like [Khoren] Gevor and [Ian] Gardner." Abraham-Marquez was scheduled for Oct. 4 but Abraham became ill the morning of the fight and it was postponed.

Johnson

• Former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson (47-12-2, 32 KOs), who is staying busy in the hopes of landing a rematch with titlist Chad Dawson or some other notable match, has a new opponent for his Nov. 11 bout in Hollywood, Fla. Aaron Norwood (26-10-2, 13 KOs) will face him in the 10-rounder after Tiwon Taylor fell out. Also on the card, Edison Miranda (30-3, 26 KOs) returns from his fourth-round knockout loss to Abraham. Miranda, who will fight at 170 pounds, faces Emmanuel Esparza (20-7-1, 5 KOs). Middleweight James McGirt Jr. (19-1, 9 KOs) faces Marcus Upshaw (8-3, 3 KOs) in a 10-rounder and, with a victory, can propel himself into a Jan. 17 HBO undercard fight against "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin.

Brewster

• Former heavyweight titlist Lamon Brewster (34-4, 30 KOs) continues his comeback Nov. 29 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in his native Indianapolis against another former titleholder, the long-faded Bruce Seldon (38-7, 34 KO), who has a fight also slated for Nov. 7. After losing two in a row, including a one-sided TKO loss in a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko in July 2007, Brewster, 35, took off 13 months before returning to score a fifth-round knockout against Dan Batchelder on Aug. 30. It will be Brewster's first fight in his hometown, which gave him the key to the city after his 2004 knockout victory against Klitschko. Also on the card: former title challenger Fres Oquendo (29-4, 18 KOs).

QUOTABLE

Malignaggi

"Floyd Mayweather Sr. is putting himself in a tough situation and putting a lot of pressure on Hatton. You can't teach dogs new tricks. He can teach him a few things, but Hatton doesn't have the talent -- natural speed and defensive ability. Mayweather's been opening his mouth and when I beat Hatton, everybody is going to say he shouldn't have gotten rid of his trainer [Billy Graham] and blame Mayweather. When they lose it's going to cost Mayweather a lot of jobs." -- Paulie Malignaggi, on the trainer of his Nov. 22 (HBO) opponent, junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton, who changed trainers after his last fight.