Donaire plans more fights this year

MANILA, Philippines - WBO/IBF superbantamweight titlist Nonito Donaire Jr. said the other day he’s looking forward to appearing in two more fights this year and it doesn’t matter who is lined up as long as the road leads to attaining recognition as the undisputed 122-pound champion.

“Bring them on,” said Donaire after unifying the WBO and IBF titles by outpointing South African Jeffrey Mathebula at the Home Depot Center outdoor arena in Carson City, near Los Angeles, last Saturday night. “I’ve heard about plans to sign up Jorge Arce in October and Toshiaki Nishioka in December. That’s fine with me. My manager (Cameron Dunkin) will work things out. Right now, he wants me to forget about boxing, take a rest for about two weeks. Then, we’ll look at the available dates and study the fight contracts.”

Donaire and wife Rachel intend to fly here on July 21. They will attend the birthday party of Rachel’s sister Nicole, who is studying in Manila, on July 28.

Donaire was on stage Sunday to sing and dance with Allan Pineda, known as Apl.de.Ap of Black Eyed Peas, in the first all-Filipino musical event ever at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The event, entitled “Apl.de.Ap Takes You To The Philippines – A Celebration of Global Filipino Music,” featured an all-star cast of performers including Martin Nievera and Ogie Alcasid. Hosts were Fil-Am actor Lou Diamond Phillips, “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens, Anthony Valdez and Jo Koy.

Apl.de.Ap sat beside Rachel at ringside during Donaire’s fight against Mathebula. “Nonito was asked by Apl.de.Ap to perform in the concert way before the fight but he couldn’t confirm so his name isn’t on the program,” said Rachel in an overseas phone call yesterday. “Nonito just wanted to focus on the fight, nothing else. So after the fight, Apl.de.Ap asked him again and this time, Nonito confirmed.” Donaire sang and danced on the show.

Donaire revealed that he overdid his warm-ups before the fight and it likely caused the cramps in both legs starting the sixth round. “I was told to get ready because the fight before mine wasn’t supposed to take very long,” he said. “I was given 15 minutes to prepare when (Kelly) Pavlik’s fight started. So I did mitts and shadow-boxed right away to warm up. But Kelly’s fight went the distance. By the time I was called to fight, I had done about 10 rounds of mitts and shadow-boxing. I didn’t want to drink too much because I’d bloat up entering the ring. I think some dehydration set in because I overdid my warm-ups. So I cramped in the sixth round. It was on and off the rest of the way. My calves stiffened in the late rounds.”

Weight wasn’t a problem for Donaire even as he was four over the limit in the morning of the weigh-in. He lost the excess weight in a sauna room in just 45 minutes and tipped the scales at 121.4 at the weigh-in. Under IBF rules, Donaire could only weigh up to 132 pounds the day of the fight. He probably weighed 134 entering the ring.

Mathebula, 32, was completely outclassed by Donaire and went down from a counter left hook to the jaw for a mandatory eight-count in the fourth. He got up on shaky legs at the count of seven and was saved by the bell. In the 11th round, a right from Donaire cracked a tooth in half and Mathebula bled profusely from the mouth until the end. Doctors who attended to Mathebula after the fight reportedly said they had never seen anything like it – the South African had a massive toothache.

“I want to accomplish my goal of being the undisputed champion,” said Donaire. “I’m eager to fight anybody out there. If everything goes well, I want the WBA and WBC champions. Before I get to 126 (the featherweight limit), that’s what I want to do. Then, I’m not waiting. I’m going to move up soon after that. I’m not waiting for anybody else.”

The WBA titlist is Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux while the WBC has two champions – Nishioka on an emeritus basis and Mexico’s Abner Mares. Arce holds no title at the moment but is a credible opponent for Donaire since the Mexican has claimed the world lightflyweight, superflyweight, bantamweight and superbantamweight belts in compiling a record of 60-6-2, with 46 KOs. Arce, 32, hasn’t lost in his last 10 outings dating back to 2009 when he was outpointed by Simphiwe Nonggayi.

Donaire has so far collected the IBF/IBO flyweight, WBC/WBO bantamweight and WBO/IBF superbantamweight crowns. He also held the WBA interim superflyweight championship but was never recognized as the regular titleholder despite beating Panama’s Rafael Concepcion and Mexico’s Hernan Marquez in a pair of interim title bouts.