Nonito Donaire may battle Jorge Arce in Manila
NEW YORK CITY—Nonito Donaire Jr. will bring his act to Manila again in June.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum said he is arranging a fight for Donaire in Manila, the Filipino Flash’s first since 2009 when he knocked out Raul Martinez in the fourth round at the Araneta Coliseum.
Arum said he will try to arrange a match pitting Donaire and Mexican Jorge Arce, the highly regarded WBO super bantamweight champion, at the 16,000-seat Mall of Asia arena, which is now under construction.
If the fight does not push through, Arum said he would tap Japanese WBC titlist Toshiaki Nishioka instead.
Donaire retained his WBC and WBO bantamweight titles Saturday night with a widely booed unanimous decision win over Omar Narvaez, the erstwhile undefeated Argentinian who covered his face all fight long.
It was Donaire’s last fight in the 118 pound division.
The 36-year-old Narvaez, a former WBO champion himself, annoyed the jampacked crowd at The Theatre of the Madison Square Garden by fighting too defensively.
He didn’t get a single round from any of the three judges who scored the fight with identical 120-108 cards.
“I was actually trying to save Arce for June because the Filipinos want Nonito to open up a new arena, and the Filipinos want to see him fight a Mexican,” said Arum.
“If that won’t push through, we’ll take Arce in February, and later on in June, we’ll take Nishioka.”
Arum said he will give Donaire at least four fights next year, although Donaire himself said he wants to climb the ring five times in 2012 to match the record of the legendary Oscar De La Hoya for most fights in a year which he set in 1997.
Narvaez said in a postfight interview that he will go back to 115 lb (super flyweight) in his next fight.
“I think it went very well defensively, but I did not attack enough to win,” Narvaez admitted.
“Neither of us wanted to make a mistake because in this kind of fight it can be fatal. You cannot neglect an opponent like Nonito at any time. I think I have the doors open to fight again in America, but next time it’ll be in the super flyweight category.”
The 28-year-old San Leandro, California-based Donaire is set to arrive in Manila Thursday to finalize the details of his scheduled church wedding to wife Rachel on November 11 in Alabang.
