MANILA, Philippines - Whoever gets to face Nonito Donaire next will have a bigger reason to go out there fighting.
In a unique move that should keep both boxers slugging it out inside the ring, Top Rank president Todd duBoef said he’s putting up a $100,000 cash bonus for the winner of the said fight.
DuBoef came up with the idea following Donaire’s dull fight against Omar Narvaez last Saturday in New York, leading to boos and chants of “This is bulls___” from the crowd.
Donaire came to fight, and tried to make a fight out of it, but Narvaez had other things in mind, opting to put up a defensive stance in all 12 rounds won by the Filipino champion.
Throughout the fight, Narvaez, winner of all his 35 prior fights, looked for the opportunity that never came. Donaire went for the knockout, and at times looked bad going for it.
Donaire was not happy with the win that on his stool after the 11th round he told his trainer, Roberto Garcia, “I’m bored.”
When Donaire fights next, as a super-bantamweight, either against Yoshiaki Nishioka or Jorge Arce, there will be $100,000 waiting for the winner, aside from their guaranteed purse.
“We can do a lot of things to build a fight, but once the bell rings, it’s out of our hands,” duBoef told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.
“I was just so [angry] about what happened [in the Donaire fight] on Saturday, that I thought about what I could do to change that, or to do my best to prevent it from happening.
“I want guys who are going to come to fight to win. That’s the point of this bonus. The next time Nonito fights, I’m going to put that $100,000 up as a winner-take-all bonus and see if that incentive (makes) the guys to go out and fight.”