DONAIRE RETURNS TO BANTAMWEIGHT AND FACES WBA CHAMP BURNETT IN WBSS ELIMINATOR
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 03 Nov 2018
Former four division world champion Nonito Donaire (38-5, 24 KOs) will challenge Ryan Burnett (19-0, 9 KOs) this Saturday night (Sunday morning Manila time) for the WBA bantamweight super title in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight quarterfinals on the undercard of the Josh Taylor vs. Ryan Martin card for the WBC Silver super lightweight title and WBSS super lightweight quarterfinal at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
Donaire, who will be turning 36 on November 16, was unstoppable when he was campaigning at the bantamweight division where his punching prowess was developed to the fullest. The 26-year-old Burnett has the age advantage over the "Filipino Flash" in their fight also for the vacant World Boxing Council Diamond bantamweight belt will also be at stake.
Donaire has the huge advantage in experience having fought quality opponents like Vic Darchinyan,Guillermo Rigondeaux, Omar Narvaez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Jorge Arce, Toshiaki Nishioka, Simpiwe Vetyeka, Nicholas Walters, Cesar Juarez, Jessie Magdaleno, Carl Frampton, Fernando Montiel, Volodymyr Sydorenko, Hernan Marquez, Manuel Vargas, Rafael Concepcion, Raul Martinez, Moruti Mthalane and Luis Maldonado. Burnett has fought only lesser known opponents like Lee Haskins and Zhanat Zhakiyanov.
Burnett though will have the crowd cheering for him although he is from the UK and not from Scotland. But the boxing fans will likely be rooting for him being British than Donaire who is a Filipino-American.
Donaire is fighting for the first time at 118 lbs. bantamweight limit in seven years since 2011. But he has no difficulty weighing 117.7 lbs. during the official weigh-in. Burnett meanwhile tipped the scales at 117.8 lbs.
?Nonito is an incredible fighter,? said Burnett. ?His track record speaks for itself. I am grateful to share the ring with such a good fighter.? Donaire is excited about the coming WBSS elimination. ?This is what I have been dreaming about for a long time,? said Donaire. ?The WBSS is what boxing should be. The best against the best. The belts put together. There can only be one! That?s it!?
Donaire moved up from superbantamweight to featherweight division five years ago after suffering a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2013. His featherweight campaign was not remarkable. WBA Regular featherweight champion Nicholas Walters dropped him twice before the referee stopped the fight. It was Donaire's first knockout loss.
Burnett won the WBA Super World bantamweight title in November last year by defeating the champ Zhanat Zhakiyanov via a 12-round unanimous decision in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Burnett reportedly used dirty tactics of grappling the more power punching Zhakiyanov in each round. Burnett applied wrestling on Zhakiyanov for the whole three minutes of each round.
Burnett also defeated Lee Haskins June of last year to win the IBF bantamweight title. But he vacated the title when the IBF mandated him to face Emmanuel Rodriguez. He retained the WBA title by defeating Yonfrez Parejo by unanimous decision last March 31 in the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker.
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