IBF junior featherweight champion from South Africa, Jeffrey “Mongoose” Mathebula, left, and four-division world champion Nonito Donaire the "Filipino Flash," from Philippines, pose at the Fortune Gym in Los Angeles Tuesday, June 3, 2012. They will fight for the World Super Bantam Weight Championship Saturday, July 7, at the Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
MANILA, Philippines — Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. and Jeffrey Mathebula faced off for the last time Friday (Saturday morning in Manila) on the eve their anticipated world title unification bout in Carson, California.
Donaire, the WBO super bantamweight titlist, tipped the scales at 121.4 pounds while the South African IBF champion Mathebula weighed in a little heavier at 121.8.
The two champions will clash at the Home Depot Center, the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS, in Southern California which has a large Filipino community.
The five-foot-five and half Donaire will be fighting his tallest opponent yet on Sunday morning in Manila as Mathebula stands five inches taller.
Donaire, undefeated in the last decade, holds a record of 28-1 with 18 KOs, while Mathebula boasts of a 26-3-2, with 14 KOs.