Nonito’s speed key against African champ

Speed will carry Nonito Donaire Jr. past tall South African Jeffrey Mathebula in their world super bantamweight title unification bout on July 7 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Glenn Donaire, elder brother of the reigning WBO super bantam king, stressed this in an interview with boxingscene.com. recently,  although he admitted he has not  seen any fight of the IBF super bantamweight champ.

“I haven’t seen any film on Mathebula but if you can’t catch my brother in the first round, forget it,” Glenn said. “Good fighters don’t get hit.  Look at Nonito. If you can’t match Nonito’s speed, you’re done for. Speed kills.”

A boxer like Nonito, Glenn (19-4-1 with 10 knockouts) was supposed to defend his regional flyweight title in Florida against Puerto Rico’s Daniel Lozano but hurt his knee during training.

The elder Donaire said his younger brother has been known for his speed  since his amateur fighting days.

But in previous interviews, Nonito said he’s cautious against somebody like Mathebula who is eager to get a stab at stardom.

“I chose him because he has a belt, and I heard he’s 6-foot tall,” Donaire had told the Inquirer. “I want something that will fire me up and this guy presents me with a challenge.”