MANILA, Philippines – Former WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. will move to the featherweight division (126 pounds) and try to bounce back from his loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux.
According a report by ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, Donaire is mulling a return bout on Nov. 9 against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
The Filipino-American fighter was supposed to face former rival Vic Darchinyan in a rematch, but the latter isn’t willing to meet at featherweight.
"Donaire is ready to fight Darchinyan but Darchinyan is also saying he won't fight at 126 pounds," said Donaire’s manager Cameron Dunkin."So I am going to talk to [Top Rank vice president] Carl [Moretti] about changing opponents.
Donaire knocked out Darchinyan on 2007 for the IBF flyweight title, and a rematch would’ve come in handy to boost Donaire’s confidence. But the two camps couldn’t agree on the weight.
“Nonito wants to fight at 126 pounds and [eventually] win a featherweight title. Vic wants to fight [at] 122 to 124. OK. I'm sorry about that because Donaire is going to fight at 126. So that is what it is," Dunkin added.
Donaire was outpointed by Rigondeaux in their WBO and WBA super bantamweight unification bout last April.
