Donaire faces eager Young after injury to original foe

Filipino boxing champ Nonito Donaire will take on replacement fighter Stephon Young in the bantamweight semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Young will be taking the place of South Africa’s Zolani Tete, the WBO title holder who injured his right shoulder a week before the scheduled fight.

“I felt like a different person when my manager told me on the phone,” Young told Acadiana Advocate. “I wanted to scream. My hands started sweating.”

At 35-5 with 25 knockouts, Donaire is hoping to rekindle his career which peaked in 2012 when he was named the consensus Fighter of the Year. —MARC ANTHONY REYES