By Erwin Lastimosa
In what is a shocking move, the talented Filipino American bantamweight champion, Nonito Donaire, officially left his old promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank Promotions for rival promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions.
Golden Boy Promotions made one of the biggest accusations in boxing, Donaire is highly touted as the next Filipino superstar to follow in Manny Pacquiao’s footsteps and Golden Boy was able to sign him to their stable of fighters.
The signing puts Nonito Donaire in an interesting situation, with the ongoing cold war between Top Rank and Golden Boy, it makes superfights between Top Rank featherweights Juan Manuel Lopez or Yuriorkis Gamboa and Donaire from happening since Bob Arum refuses to do business with Golden Boy Promotions.
The most logical match-up for Donaire is a bantamweight fight with Abner Mares who is also promoted by Golden Boy, if Mares beats Joseph Agbeko for the bantamweight titles in April.
Speculation as to why Nonito signed with Golden Boy Promotions could be because he was unhappy with Top Rank because they didn’t put him on Manny Pacquiao undercards or HBO or Showtime networks to help build his name and gain exposure. Donaire mainly fought on small independent Top Rank pay-per-views called Pinoy Power that only a small amount of hardcore boxing fans ordered and his first exposure on HBO was against Fernando Montiel.
Nonito is in his prime and is trying to make the best decisions to help him financially, instead of being on small pay-per-view shows like Pinoy Power and living in Manny Pacquiao’s shadow, Nonito could finally get the exposure and fame he deserves with Golden Boy Promotions behind him.
Erwin Lastimosa is a long time boxing fan and enjoys boxing discussion with his peers. Some of his favorite fighters are Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Muhammad Ali, Flash Elorde, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.