SPORTSCLOPEDIA 15: NONITO DONAIRE WANTS TO CHALLENGE JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Jan 2023
Nonito Donaire's place in the Hall of Fame is already certain, but The Filipino Flash doesn't stop pursuing big name opponents to cement his legacy.
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Donaire, age 40, born in Talibon, Bohol, now based in Las Vegas, Nevada, has held multiple world championships in four weight classes from flyweight to featherweight. He holds the distinction as the oldest boxer in history to win a bantamweight world title, and the first three-time champion in that weight division.
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Donaire carved a great name in the boxing world in 2007 when he moved down from superflyweight to flyweight and knocked out the favorite former world champion Vic Darchinyan. Donaire defended his flyweight title three times then moved up to superflyweight division and became a WBA interim 115 pound titleholder from 2009 to 2010.
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But he was not able to win the division's world title, and he wants to win a championship in the superflyweight.
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“I want to win my fifth division [world championship]. I want to challenge the 115 [pound WBC titleholder] Juan Francisco Estrada, and even Marcos Maidana's fighter [IBF champion] Fernando Martinez,” Donaire told DAZN.
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Among Donaire's major world titles are:
IBF flyweight champion (112 lbs)
WBC bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2x)
WBO bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
WBA (Super) bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
WBO super bantamweight champion (122 lbs) (2×)
IBF super bantamweight champion (122 lbs)
WBA (Undisputed) featherweight champion (126 lbs)
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His interim title:
WBA interim super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
He also had a minor world title:
IBO flyweight champion (112 lbs)
He also won The Ring magazine title:
The Ring super bantamweight champion (122 lbs)
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Donaire has also won world championships in three consecutive decades, the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, and the sixth boxer to accomplish the feat after Evander Holyfield, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Érik Morales, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
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Donaire is a two-time recipient of The Ring's Knockout of the Year award in 2007 and 2011. He was ranked third pound for pound by The Ring in 2011, and was named Fighter of the Year in 2012 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Donaire is one of the elite Asian boxers to win world titles in at least four weight classes, together with Manny Pacquiao and Donnie Nietes.
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Juan Francisco Estrada, age 32, of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico. An orthodox fighter, he has 44 wins, 28 by KOs, with 3 losses, is a two-weight world champion. He was The Ring super flyweight champion since 2019. He was also the WBA (Unified) and WBO flyweight titleholder. At present he holds the WBC super flyweight title and the WBA (Super) title.
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Estrada is ranked as the world's tenth best active boxer, pound for pound by The Ring, tenth by Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), sixth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB). He is also ranked as the world's best active super flyweight by The Ring, the TBRB and BoxRec.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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