Donaire hopes to bring cheer to gloomy PH boxing scene

WBO super bantamweight world champion Nonito ‘The Filipino Flash’ Donaire and challenger Jorge Arce of Mexico both made the required weight during official weigh-in yesterday setting the stage for today’s mega-bout at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Donaire had an easy time in his first try at the scales, weighing 121.5 lbs. while Arce of Los Mochis, Mexico, came in at 123.25 on his first attempt and had to strip to his bare essentials to finally hit the division limit of 122 lbs.

Arce (61W-6L-2D, 46 KOs) will try to duplicate the stunning knockout victory of his countryman, Juan Manuel Marquez against Manny Pacquiao last week.

The 33-year-old Arce has spent five weeks with the conditioning coach of Marquez, Dr. Angel Heredia. Arce is unbeaten in his last eleven bouts, with nine wins, a draw and one no contest.

Donaire (30W-1L, 19 KOs) officially established himself as the best 122 lb boxer on the planet when he beat WBC Emeritus champion Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan by ninth round TKO two months ago. The 30-year-old Donaire is now ranked No. 6  in the latest pound-for-pound rankings of Ring magazine with Pacquiao slipping right behind him at No. 7 after his shocking loss to Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Dec. 9.

The referee of the Donaire-Arce title bout will be Laurence Cole of the United States.

Cole is remembered for being the third man in the ring for Manny Pacquiao’s historic 11th round TKO upset win against Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003. Cole was also the referee when Pacquiao beat Antonio Margarito two years ago. Both fights were held in Texas.

The three American judges responsible for scoring this 12-round title bout will be Raul Caiz Sr., Levi Martinez and Javier Alvarez.

OCAMPO TITLE CHALLENGE CANCELLED

Meanwhile, Filipino lightweight contender Jose Ocampo’s scheduled WBO world title challenge in London this Dec. 16 against lightweight champion Ricky Burns of the Scotland has been cancelled.

Reports came out last December 6 that his trainer Danny Bactol suddenly died while supervising Ocampo’s training.

Three days ago, news websites in the United Kingdom reported that the bout will not push through. As of this writing, there has been no clarification as to the details of the cancellation.