By Don Donatello
There is no need to clear the Bantamweight division, Nonito Donaire is without question the owner of that division. There is no one in that division that would augment Donaire’s status. The casual fan, the biggest block of boxing fans, does not know of of Anselmo Moreno, Joseph Agbeko, or Abner Mares. He needs to move on, he needs to follow Manny Pacquiao’s example. Pacquiao went after Marco Antonio Barrera, then Juan Manuel Marquez, followed by Erik Morales in succession. Donaire must strike while the iron is hot, he is at his peak and he must take full advantage of it, now!
His next move should be to add another title to his name at the Jr. Featherweight division. The top fighter there is Toshiaki Nishioka from Japan. Nishioka has a record of 37-4-3 with 23 knock outs, not a big hitter. I’ve seen enough videos to know that Donaire would make short work of him.
The Featherweight division is where Donaire can stamp his name on. They have fighters there that have been exposed to the public and are relatively known. The undefeated Chris John of Indonesia is at Featherweight, the man who defeated Juan Manuel Marquez in March of 2006. Two judges had Chris John winning by 116-110 and 117-111 and the third judge had it 116-112 for John as well.
Daniel Ponce De Leon is also there, he knocked out Rey Boom Boom Bautista of the Philippines in one round on August of 2007. De Leon was also awarded a very controversial win over Gerry Penalosa in their fight on March of 2007. The amazing thing was how the fight was scored by the judges, many had the fight as being very close but the judges scored it by 119-109, 120-108, and 119-109. De Leon never gave Penalosa a rematch. About a year later in June of 2008, Ponce De Leon lost his WBO Super Bantamweight title to Juan Manuel Lopez in a first round knockout.
Juan Manuel Lopez rules the Featherweight division. That is where Nonito Donaire should set his sight on. But first thing is first. By mid of 2012, Donaire should move up to the Featherweight division. A win over Chris John and/or Ponce De Leon would elevate Donaire to where he would be the A-side fighter in a bout with Juan Manuel Lopez. I see Donaire handily beating De Leon and John. I don’t see anything from those two fighters that would give Donaire any problem. The only concern would be how Donaire fights at a heavier weight. His fight with Fernando Montiel had Donaire weighing at 126 at fight time.
Pacquiao is where he is at because he takes risk, big risk! Tonight, Donaire stepped out of his comfort zone and abandoned his cautionary nature. He took risk and was a lot more engaging of his opponent than usual. And look at what he got for stepping out of his comfort zone. Tonight the glory was Donaire’s. Elephant balls to the walls, Donaire! CONGRATULATIONS!
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