Donaire to fight in May

MANILA, Philippines - No opponent has been named but interim WBA superflyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. yesterday said his manager Cameron Dunkin confirmed his next fight will be on May 8 in Mexico or Las Vegas in the 118-pound bantamweight division.

“I’ll be ready for whomever Cameron and Top Rank put in front of me,” said Donaire who arrived in Manila last Friday with wife Rachel and father-in-law Gerry Marcial from San Francisco. “I’m hoping it’ll be a title fight. For what title, I still don’t know. But it probably won’t be against (WBO bantamweight champion) Fernando Montiel who’s committed to fight mandatory challenger Eric Morel next.”

Donaire, 27, said he’s moving up to bantamweight unless there’s an opportunity to face either WBO superflyweight titlist Jorge Arce of Mexico or unified WBA and WBC 115-pound champion Vic Darchinyan of Australia. He admitted scaling five to six pounds over the limit the day before the weigh-in for his superflyweight title defense against Mexico’s Manuel (Chango) Vargas in Las Vegas last Feb. 13.

“It was tough going down to 115,” said Donaire. “But a fighter has to do what he has to do. I made it on my first try at the weigh-in. I hardly ate for two days. I’ll stay a superflyweight only if I fight Arce or Darchinyan.”

Donaire said his “wish” order of battle for the year lists Darchinyan, Arce and Montiel.

“My first target is Darchinyan who holds two titles then Arce to unify the WBA, WBC and WBO superflyweight championships and finally, Montiel for the bantamweight belt before the year ends,” said Donaire. “If that happens, I’ll be a three-division world champion this year.”

Donaire said there’s also the possibility of challenging WBC superbantamweight champion Israel Vazquez who’s due to defend his crown against Rafael Marquez in their fourth grudge match in Los Angeles on May 22.

“Vazquez has been calling me out,” said Donaire. “I’ll move up to superbantamweight if we can make it happen. Going up to 122 pounds is no problem. I could fight the winner of his bout against Marquez at the end of this year or early next year.”

Darchinyan, 34, is set to defend his twin crowns against Mexico’s Rodrigo Guerrero in Rancho Mirage, California, on March 6. Arce, 30, won the vacant WBO title on a seventh round technical decision over Indonesia’s Angky Angkota in Mexico City last Jan. 30. Montiel, 30, retained his WBO diadem on a first round knockout over Filipino Ciso Morales in the Donaire-Vargas undercard. Vazquez, 32, ended a 19-month layoff to halt Angel Priolo in Los Angeles last October and has beaten Marquez in two of three meetings so far.

Donaire disclosed that Vargas suffered a dislocated jaw in the second round and proved to be a tough customer. Vargas was pulled in three days before the fight as a late replacement for Gerson Guerrero who was scratched after doctors confirmed a detached retina in the right eye.

“He was tougher than I thought,” said Donaire. “Vargas was in shape because he was scheduled to fight in Mexico that night. I remember Raul Martinez went down when I hit him with a right but I did the same to Vargas and he took it standing up. I finally got him with a left uppercut. It took me two rounds to figure him out. I trained hard for the fight. In the gym, I built up my speed with plyometrics. I worked on my legs. I was confident of winning and confidence is the key to victory.”

Donaire said his cornermen Robert Garcia and Jonathan Peñalosa set him on track for the knockout over Vargas.

“Robert and Jonathan worked well together,” he said. “During the fight, Robert told me to go side-to-side, to let loose and relax. Jonathan told me to keep pumping my jab and take advantage of my length. I was too stiff in the first two rounds trying to go for a one-punch knockout. In the third, I went side-to-side and it opened up angles for my shots. I felt really strong using my speed and power.”

Donaire said the win over Vargas showed the wide range in his arsenal.

“I’ve got a lot of weapons now,” he said. “I stopped Darchinyan with a left hook. I got Martinez with a right. I finished off Vargas with a left uppercut. Both my hands are weapons. I can attack with an overhand right and a right straight, too. I can switch to southpaw if it’s necessary. I’m sticking with Robert, Jonathan and my conditioning coach Mike Bazzel in my corner.”

Donaire cited Garcia’s contributions. Garcia, who trains fighters at the converted firehouse La Colonia Gym in Oxnard, near Los Angeles, was once an IBF superfeatherweight champion.   

“Robert is a great strategist,” said Donaire. “He came in last January to visit my camp at Undisputed in San Carlos. We worked on a gameplan with Jonathan. He gave me solid advice. Two weeks before the fight, we hooked up. His two world champions Brian Viloria and Steven Luevano had just lost so he was feeling down. He’s a super nice guy and he’s really close to his fighters like they’re brothers. He was very happy after I knocked out Vargas and gave me a big hug in the ring.”

Donaire said he will stay in Manila until March 2.

“I’ll attend the PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Awards Night on March 1 for sure,” he said. “It’s an honor to join the country’s best athletes in an event organized by the PSA. But before that, I plan to visit Z Gorres in Cebu.”

Donaire provided Gorres, recovering from brain surgery, and his wife Datches ringside tickets to witness the “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3” sequel in Las Vegas and promised to give a share of his purse. Donaire will fly to Cebu to personally hand out the share to Gorres. He didn’t reveal how much is his contribution but said it comes straight from the heart. The amount is rumored to be in six figures.