SACRAMENTO, California—HBO’s monthly “Boxing After Dark” series—BAD for short— gets a boost at twilight Saturday (Sunday morning in the Philippines) when the Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire Jr. clashes with former South African Olympic boxer Jeffrey Mathebula.
Donaire (28-1, 18 KOs), the WBO super bantamweight titlist and unbeaten in the last 10 years, tangles with the no-name Mathebula, (26-3-2, 14 KOs), his IBF counterpart in a crown unification bout at Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
It makes me wonder if at the back of his mind, the 29-year-old Nonito wants to be on BAD at this point of his career.
The public clamor is for the Filipino Flash to face fighters of his own stature in a well-deserved forum, not BAD. The likes of WBA super bantam king Guillermo Rigondeaux and WBC’s super bantam champ Abner Mares are mentioned in the same breath as Nonito’s logical opponents while he continues to create a pay-per-view demand in boxing’s lower weight classes.
But since he is not featured in the main undercard of a mega PPV fight of his countryman Manny Pacquiao or in an HBO championship card, Donaire will have to light up the fireworks real bad on BAD to sustain his momentum within the 122-lb division.
Originally hosted by current HBO PPV boxing analysts Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, BAD is where up-and-coming fighters are noticed and ex-greats rehabilitate their flagging careers. A notable alum is Timothy Bradley who figured in the recent grand larceny on Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
Donaire is not over his head when he says he is a PPV fighter. Pound for pound, he is among the top five boxers on the face of the Earth, and without a doubt, is worth his weight in gold and in class.
But first, the Bay Area-based boxer out of General Santos City must string stirring victories like a rosary in order to get the big payday, PPV or otherwise that he deserves.
In most of his previous bouts, Donaire has always been the taller guy. Mathebula, unknown outside his native country, has won his last three fights. He poses a new challenge for the Flash since he is taller at 5 feet 10 inches, is not a stationary target, and knows how to use his longer reach to full advantage.
In a recent talk with Examiner.com’s Dennis “The Source” Guillermo, Donaire noted that he wanted to face “somebody who will challenge me more than I have been challenged, and that is fighting a guy who is taller than me—way taller.”
Donaire also gave Guillermo a glimpse of the negotiating process for this fight promoted by Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya.
“I chose Mathebula because you present them (Top Rank) with names, but with the bigger (named) guys, it gets harder with the negotiating process. When they gave me these two names, I chose Mathebula because he’s a champion and I’ve always wanted to unify and be undisputed.”
The fight venue is in Carson, home to a huge Filipino-American populace. Top Rank has made sure it spread the word about the fight among the locals. It is unsure how Fil-Ams in Carson and the South Bay area of Los Angeles would respond to a fight other than Pacquiao’s.
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(Overseas Filipino Workers who got injured or ill while on the job at American military bases in Afghanistan and elsewhere are entitled to health benefits and workers’ compensation under the US Defense Act, says OFW champion Susan V. Ople. Affected OFWs should call Susan at the Blas F. Ople Center, hotline: +63 2 833-5337 or e-mail toots.ople@hotmail.com).