Donaire wants more fights next year. Photo by Top Rank Boxing, Chris Farina
NEW YORK CITY—The Filipino Flash is in a hurry.
Next year, Nonito Donaire Jr., wants to fight five times to make up for lost time, according to his manager Cameron Dunkin.
“He’s going to 122 pounds after this, he wants to go 122, hopefully January or February, probably February,” Dunkin told the Inquirer. “Oh yeah, that soon. He has plans that next year he wants to fight five times. We definitely gonna do four, I think we can do five.”
Considering his 5-foot-7 frame, Donaire can leapfrog to the same weight division as Pacquiao who is an inch shorter than him.
“You know 126 lb is an option,” Dunkin said. “But we are not chasing anybody. Nonito just wants to step to 122 (super bantam), get two or three fights then up to 126 (featherweight). And that could lead to 130 (super feather) and even 135 (lightweight).”
Donaire was idled for eight months this year after a dispute with Top Rank regarding his contract.
“You know he wants to make up for lost time, that’s what he said in the HBO meeting with Roy Jones, Max Callerman and Bob Pappa,” added Dunkin.
“You know, Nonito wants to be great, it’s not just about money. It’s not the issue. He wants to be great, in order to be great you have to fight. He wants to be out there.”
Donaire is also banking on the promise of Bob Arum of Top Rank to guide him in joining the elite club of pay-per-view stars with multimillion-dollar paychecks like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
His fight against Narvaez was shown on basic cable through HBO Boxing After Dark, and came in live after the premier of Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez 24/7. It was only his second fight that was carried by HBO.
Dunkin said Jorge Arce is big possibility for his next opponent along with fellow super bantamweight bigshots Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Abner Mares and Juan Manuel Marquez who witnessed Friday’s weigh-in.
“A lot of other names thrown around,” Dunkin said. “Nobody is definite yet, but at 122 lb it’s not gonna be hard to find opponents.”
The last guy who fought five times in a year was Oscar De La Hoya in 1997. He beat Miguel Angel Gonzales in January by unanimous decision, Pernell Whitaker in April (UD), David Kamau in June (second round knockout), Hector Camacho in September (UD) and Wilfredo Rivera in December (8th round KO).