Donaire uncertain of April match versus Rigondeaux
While he’s into it, Filipino champion Nonito Donaire Jr. said there’s really nothing concrete regarding his planned April showdown with Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Donaire, the reigning WBO superbantamweight champion and 2012 Fighter of the Year, said he’s open to a unification fight with Rigondeaux, the WBA champ at 122 lb.
But the 30-year-old Donaire said he hasn’t heard from his manager Cameron Dunkin about the fight on April 27 under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
For now, Donaire said it’s just pure talk.
“Everyone’s saying April 27 is the date, and it’s Rigondeaux, but I don’t know anything about it yet, so I can’t say if it’s for sure,” he told www.
boxingscene.com.
Rigondeaux, who won gold medals for Cuba in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, also wants Donaire.
Donaire’s promoter, Bob Arum, said the other day it’s most unlikely for Manny Pacquiao to fight on either April 13 or April 20 because there’s no place to do it.
Pacquiao is hoping to do a tuneup fight following his harrowing loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last Dec. 8, all in the hope of landing a fifth fight with the Mexican in September.
Arum said the Pacquiao fight can’t happen in Macau because the only place that could host such an event is already booked for April.
And there’s nothing really coming out of talks with people from Singapore, Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Arum said because of this, Pacquiao should better wait for September.
For the meantime, the legendary promoter is working on Donaire’s schedule for the year following a successful 2012 that had him winning all four fights.
There are fighters lining up before Donaire, and they include WBC superbantamweight champion Abner Mares, his former victim Vic Darchinyan or Chris John.
But the fight against Rigondeaux, who is also under Top Rank, is the easiest to make, and Donaire doesn’t have any problem with that.
Mares is under Golden Boy, which is not in a good working relationship with Top Rank.
“I wanted the Mares fight, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to do that, so I said, ‘Give me Rigondeaux and then Darchinyan, one after the other,” Donaire said.
“Then after that, Chris John at 126 (pounds). These are the three guys I want to fight this year. Let’s make it happen,” he told told Ryan Maquinana of www.
boxingscene.com.
Donaire has got people lined up before him.