ARUM: DONAIRE CAN?T FIGHT IN THE SAME CARD WITH PACQUIAO
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 03 Jul 2008
LAREDO, Texas ? Although they are now under the same promotional roof, bringing together Filipino world champions Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire, Jr. in one card is a ?stupid thing?, declared Top Rank boss Bob Arum.
?No, never. It?s the most stupid thing (to do in boxing),? volunteered the seasoned lawyer-cum-promoter who signed up the 25-year-old International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight titlist for a rich three-fight contract that will romp off with a title defense this year either versus No. 14 contender Hussein Hussein or No. 6 ranked Moruti ?Baby Face? Mithalane who will slug it out on July 5 in South Africa.
Arum said he wanted Donaire to fight in a separate promotion and make his own name ?and there is no way he will be included in the same card where Pacquiao is the main event.?
Arum announced the signing up of Donaire (19-1, 12 KOs) two days before the ?Lethal Combination? battle for World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight championship between David Diaz and Manny Pacquiao at the media center of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Delighted by the prospect of hitting a big pay dirt under the promotional outfit that has given Pacquiao multimillion contracts, Donaire revealed he was also interested to campaign in the higher divisions like Pacquiao and give up his world titles in the flyweight division, in the process.
He is interested he said to become world champion in the following divisions: 118 lbs, 122 lbs, 126 lbs.
?I am an ambitious person and the prospect of becoming a champion in the different weight categories is what motivates me,? said Donaire, who tortured Luis Maldonado in the first defense of his two belts ? IBF flyweight and International Boxing Organization (IBO) flyweight ? en route to an eye-pooping 8th round technical knockout (TKO) at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut on December 1, 2007.
Donaire was supposed to fight Hussein in April in Dubai but the promotion did not materialize thus paving the way for the Hussein vs Mithalane elimination bout.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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