By Ian S Palmer
Former world champion Nonito Donaire of the Philippines will be taking Mexico’s Cesar Juarez this Friday, December 11th at the Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. and Canada on Tru TV. Juarez is ranked number one super bantamweight in the world by the WBO and Donaire is ranked number two. However, in typical boxing fashion the organization still hasn’t decided yet if this fight is for the vacant WBO crown which was recently stripped from Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux due to inactivity.
The 33-year-old Donaire enters the ring with a mark of 35-3 along with 23 Kos. He’s on a bit of a roll at the moment with four wins in his last five outings with his last contests being a victory against Anthony Settoul in July. Donaire was regarded as one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters until losing his title to Rigondeaux by unanimous decision in April of 2013. He was then knocked out by Nicholas Walters of Jamaica in the sixth round in October, 2014. Donaire’s first career loss came back in 2001 when he lost a five-round decision to Rosendo Sanchez in his second career fight.
Donaire has excellent power and hand speed, but he now owns a questionable chin since the loss to Walters. He also has fine boxing skills and rarely loses rounds on points. Donaire seemed to lose interest in the sport a couple of years ago, but now claims he’s reinvigorated and motivated once again. He’s trained hard for this fight and it now looms as one of the most important of his career. Donaire stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 68 inches. He has 218 rounds under his belt since turning pro back in. Donaire has good power and his current knockout ratio stands at 61 per cent.
The 24-year-old Juarez has a record of 17-3 with 13 Kos. He’s also built up some momentum with four straight wins including a against Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr in July. Juarez had a fine amateur career, but he’s suffered three defeats in his first 20 pro bouts and will be stepping up in class against Donaire. Juarez doesn’t mind mixing things up and has pretty good power with a knockout percentage of 65. His height and reach are currently unlisted by BoxRec, but he has boxed 105 rounds since turning pro in 2010. This will be just his second contest outside of his homeland of Mexico. Two of Juarez’s losses have come by decision to Hugo Partida in 2013, Jorge Lara in 2012 and his third defeat was by disqualification against Edgar Lozano in 2011.
Prediction
Donaire has the edge in skills and power even though his KO percentage is lower, and certainly has more experience while Juarez is nine years younger. Those facts would see a lot of fans lean towards a Donaire victory in this fight, but he can’t just show up and expect to win. If he’s been training as hard as he says he has and is once again taking his career seriously, then Donaire should have all of the physical and mental tools to win this bout via decision or a second-half stoppage.
