Japanese option in Donaire sweepstakes

MANILA, Philippines - WBA bantamweight champion Koki Kameda of Japan has been added to the list of candidates next in line to face newly crowned WBC/WBO titlist Nonito Donaire Jr., it was disclosed by a reliable source yesterday.

The source said Donaire’s close friend Dr. Osamu Kato phoned Japanese promoter Akihiko Honda the other night to suggest the possibility of a unification showdown in Tokyo. The call was made while Dr. Kato had dinner with Donaire and his wife Rachel in Las Vegas. Dr. Kato was in town to witness Donaire’s second round demolition of Fernando Montiel last Saturday.

“It was very exploratory,” said the source, “but a purse range of $500,000 to $800,000 was mentioned.”

Dr. Kato invited the Donaires to Tokyo for a visit last December. He is supposedly involved in setting up an in-vitro fertilization clinic in Makati and has done extensive stem-cell research.

The Donaires are arriving in Manila next week. They will be at ringside for the WBA lightweight title fight between defending champion Miguel Acosta of Venezuela and challenger Brandon Rios in Las Vegas tomorrow (Sunday morning, Manila). Donaire and Rios are both trained by former IBF superfeatherweight champion Robert Garcia. Accompanying the Donaires to Manila is Filipino businessman Rich Cabel who distributes the Philippine-made coconut vodka brand VuQu in the US. Donaire endorses the product.

Garcia said he has no preferred opponent for Donaire but singled out Abner Mares as a likely opponent if the Filipino Flash decides to unify the bantamweight championship and the Mexican beats Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko in Los Angeles on April 23. Garcia said he expects Mares, the IBO champion, to defeat Agbeko who is recognized by the IBF. The problem is Mares is promoted by Golden Boy and Donaire by Top Rank. The two promotions outfits are bitter rivals.

Mares, 25, is coming off a win by split decision over Donaire knockout victim Vic Darchinyan and has a 21-0-1 record, with 13 KOs. The draw was with Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez last March. A 2004 Olympian, Mares holds stoppage victories over Filipinos Diosdado Gabi and Robert Allanic.

Agbeko, 30, has lost a decision to another Donaire knockout victim Vladimir Sidorenko. His record is 28-2, with 22 KOs. Agbeko’s biggest wins were over Perez and Darchinyan.

Still another unification option is WBA “super” bantamweight titlist Anselmo Moreno of Panama. Moreno stakes his crown against Lorenzo Parra on April 30 and has a 30-1-1 record, with 10 KOs. In 2008, he outpointed Filipino Rolly Lunas in a WBA title bout. The WBA recognizes two bantamweight kings – ”super” titlist Moreno and “regular” champion Kameda.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum recently said he’ll go for the big money fight and if that means leaving the 118-pound division, Donaire might just invade the superbantamweight ranks where Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. reigns as WBO champion and Canadian Steve Molitor is the IBF titleholder. Both Vazquez and Molitor are linked to Top Rank. Vazquez, 26, has a 20-0-1 record, with 17 KOs, and once stopped Filipino Marvin Sonsona. He is slated to meet Mexico’s Jorge Arce in the Manny Pacquiao-Sugar Shane Mosley undercard in Las Vegas on May 7. Molitor, 30, will defend his IBF crown against Takalami Ndlovu in South Africa on March 26 and has a 33-1 record, with 12 KOs.

Donaire’s ultimate goal is to challenge WBO featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico. Lopez, 27, battles Orlando Salido in a championship defense in Puerto Rico on April 16 and has a 30-0 record, with 27 KOs. One of his victims is Filipino Bernabe Concepcion who was stopped in two rounds but not before flooring Lopez.

Donaire is in the record books as one of only four Filipinos to win world titles in two divisions. The others are Luisito Espinosa (bantamweight, featherweight), Dodie Boy Peñalosa (lightflyweight, flyweight) and Gerry Peñalosa (superflyweight, bantamweight). Donaire also held the interim WBA superflyweight title but boxing historians do not consider “interim” titles. Pacquiao, of course, has outdone everybody else as he is the only fighter ever to capture eight world titles in different weight classes.