As former five-division champion Nonito Donaire fights to restore his name as one of the best in the sport after suffering a loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux in April 2013 his next opportunity to bolster his name comes against Nicholas Walters Saturday night.
The bout, which is for Donaire’s WBA Super featherweight and Walter’s WBA straps, is on the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin-Marco Antonio Rubio showdown at the StubHub Center in Carson, California and has as much attention on it as the main event.
Donaire is on a two-fight win streak since the Rigo fight, with his last outing versus Simpiwe Vetyeka producing a technical decision in his favor after an accidental headbutt opened a cut over Donaire’s eye. Donaire was easily ahead in the fight, dropping Vetyeka in the fourth round just before the headbutt occurred in Round 5.
Although Donaire comes in as the slight favorite, he knows that obtaining a win in any fight is not a given.
“Confident fighters are dangerous fighters,” Donaire said. “I know that. But there other fighters who said before a fight they were stronger than me, hit harder, were going to knock me out.”
Despite being the WBA champion, Donaire questions the value of Walter’s past opponents, especially matched against his own fight history.
“Walters is a good champion but really how many quality fights has he been in compared to where I have been in my career?” Donaire stated.
Both Donaire and Walters have adequate KO power and if Donaire has anything to do with it, the championship fight won’t go the full 12 rounds.
“We both have speed, we both have power. It’s an explosive fight. This is going to end in a knockout. I will go into the ring and do my best,” he said.
