Could Nonito Donaire vs Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Happen?
Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. are two of the most exciting young fighters in boxing. Donaire (24-1, 16 KOs) has been regularly ranked among the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world since upsetting Vic Darchinyan in 2007. He toyed with Hernan Marquez in his last fight on July 10, fighting southpaw for several rounds before switching to his normal orthodox stance and stopping Marquez in the eighth round. Meanwhile, WBO super bantamweight champion Vazquez Jr. (19-0-1, 16 KOs) enhanced his reputation with his first title defence on May 29 when he battered highly-regarded challenger Zsolt Bedak for 10 rounds before Bedak’s corner threw in the towel.
Donaire currently holds interim the WBA super flyweight title but has recently expressed a willingness to move up in weight classes in order to secure bigger fights. This has led many people to speculate that a bout between Donaire and Vazquez Jr. could be in the cards in the near future. A bout between the two would be hotly anticipated and could be a potential Fight of the Year candidate. Both boxers are action fighters with real power in both hands and a fight featuring the two could be a true war.
In something that is an increasing rarity in boxing, the idea of matching Donaire and Vazquez Jr. is one that appears to be agreed upon by all parties. Both Donaire and Vazquez Jr. had said that they would like to face each other at some point down the road. In addition, both Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum and Vazquez Jr’s promoter Tuto Zabala Jr. have agreed that a bout between their two fighters would be a viable option.
However, that doesn’t mean that fight fans should expect to see the two taking each other on — at least not yet. After Donaire’s victory over Marquez, Arum confirmed that Donaire would be moving up in weight class because he was having trouble making weight because he “likes to eat.” However, Arum said that before Donaire was matched up against Vazquez Jr., he would first be paired up with WBO and WBC bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel. The bout against the Mexican champion was dependent on Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) beating Rafael Concepcion on Saturday night in Mexico. Montiel did that handily, and it looks like he is in line for a major fight against Donaire in November.
The game plan for Donaire is simple: move up to bantamweight and take on Montiel before progressing to super bantamweight to fight against Vazquez Jr. Of course, Montiel is also considered to be one of the top fighters in the world, as evidenced by his calculating and masterful unanimous decision over Concepcion. There are no guarantees that Donaire would get past Montiel and make it to a bout against Vazquez Jr. and it’s certainly not fight which could be overlooked.
A potential fight between Donaire and Vazquez Jr. would be very appealing for several reasons. Not only are they two of the most exciting young fighters in boxing today, but they also have complementary boxing styles. Both are quick and like to press the action, eliminating much of the potential for a boring fight. It would also potentially appeal to a pair of majority boxing fan bases — Donaire is an American of Filipino decent while Vazquez Jr. is Puerto Rican.
Donaire has been frustrated in his attempts to get another big name fight since beating Darchinyan almost three years ago. It appears that moving up through the weight classes could be exactly what he needs in order to get some bouts against the elite fighters in the sport and prove the sceptics that he belongs in the discussion of the best fighters in the world.
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