By Ian S Palmer
Nonito Donaire, also known as the Filipino Flash, takes on Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan on Oct. 13 at Carson, California’s Home Depot center. Donaire is the reigning super bantamweight world champion in the WBO and IBF, while Nishioka is the current WBC champion. Both boxers have fine records with Donaire at 29-1 with 18 knockouts and Nishioka with a record of 39-4-3 along with 24 knockouts.
Donaire is well known to North American and European fight fans while the 36-year-old veteran Nishioka is somewhat of an unknown quantity in those parts of the world. However, the WBC titleholder has won seven straight title fights and hasn’t lost a bout in the last eight years. The southpaw is one of the best unknown boxers in the world and the only thing really going against him could be his age. Still, Donaire should have his hands full with him.
Nishioka has beaten a couple of well-known fighters during his career, most notably Mexico’s Rafael Marquez, who he beat by a 12-round unanimous decision last October in Las Vegas, and a third-round KO over Jhonny Gonzalez in a 2009 bout in Mexico. Gonzalez is a former two-time world champion. The Japanese champion doesn’t mind fighting on the road and will be showing up to win, not just survive.
Donaire’s been moving up in weight throughout his career and has won titles in four different divisions now. It’s likely that he’ll move up another weight class if he manages to beat Nishioka. The orthodox vs southpaw matchup should make for an interesting fight as Donaire will be relying on his straight right hand to hurt his opponent while Nishioka will be trying to land straight lefts to the head of Donaire.
At the age of 36 though, Nishioka might have a bit of a problem shaking off his ring rust. He hasn’t fought in over a year and he may come out slow against Donaire due to the inactivity. He’s the oldest world champion that Japan’s ever produced and this could end up being a factor in the fight. He turned professional in 1994 and suffered a KO loss in his second bout as a pro. He got back on the horse, but then lost six bouts later by a majority decision. However, he’s been one of the most consistent boxers on the globe since then.
Nishioka was beaten by a unanimous decision in 2000 by Veeraphol Sahaprom, the WBC Bantamweight titleholder, and also lost the rematch by another decision in 2004. He won the WBC super bantamweight crown in 2009 when he stopped Genaro Garcia in the final round and has successfully defended it half a dozen times.
Donaire’s just 29 years old and he turned pro back in 2001. He was also beaten in his second pro bout, but hasn’t lost since, which is a span of 11 years now. His last bout was in July when he beat Jeffrey Mathebula by a unanimous decision. Donaire’s one inch shorter than Nishioka, but they match up pretty evenly size-wise. Both boxers have good power as well as solid jaws, but there could still be a knockdown or two along the way.
Nishioka is used to attacking and taking the initiative, but he’ll need to be wary of Donaire’s counter-punching skills and make sure he doesn’t leave himself wide open. There should be a lot of punches thrown in this bout and it’s a shame there’s a significant age difference as it could have been a boxing classic. There should be plenty of action though with Nishioka proving to be a tough test. It’s doubtful that Nishioka’s going to win a decision though, which means he’s going to need a KO to win. That’s unlikely though, so look for Donaire to take a decision.
