Nonito Donaire vs Reymart Gaballo. PBC POSTER
MANILA, Philippines—Reymart Gaballo is a man fully capable of putting another boxer to sleep but that doesn’t mean he’s going to fights with reckless abandon.
The WBC interim bantamweight champion will have the biggest fight night of his career when he takes on Filipino legend Nonito Donaire on December 11 in Carson, California and the 25-year-old knockout artist is fully aware of the situation he’s walking into.
Donaire, 38, is the reigning WBC world bantamweight champion and he’ll be making his first defense of the title he wrested from Nordine Oubaali via fourth round knockout.
In an interview with the Noli Eala’s Power & Play program, Gaballo (24-0, 20 KOs) said a match against Donaire is the fight of his career and the first thing he will watch out for is the Filipino Flash’s signature left hook.
“I’m really excited for this fight because ever since I was a kid I’ve always idolized Nonito,” said Gaballo in Filipino.
“One thing I’ve always watched during his fights is how he set up his left hook. That’s also the first thing I have to look out for.”
Donaire, an orthodox fighter, knocked Oubaali down three times during their May 2021 title fight and the first two of those were the results of quick left hooks.
Though Donaire (41-6) used a left uppercut to knock Oubaali out in the fourth round, he did land several left hooks to the jaw of the Frenchman.
Gaballo, for his part, had four straight TKO wins heading into his bout against Emmanuel Rodriguez whom he defeated via split decision in December 2020 to become the WBC’s interim champion at 118 pounds.
“Nonito is a great boxer and his power is always there,” said Gaballo, who was also a former WBA interim bantamweight champion. “That’s why I’ll do everything in my power to make this a great fight.”