Nonito Donaire (left) and Naoya Inoue (right). | Photos from Donaire’s Facebook page and Inoue’s Twitter page.
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The possibility of a rematch between four-division world champion Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. and WBA, IBF, and Ring Magazine world champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue is getting boxing fans excited.
In a report from Boxingscene, a world title unification showdown between the two decorated world champions is currently under negotiations.
This latest development involves Donaire’s promoter, Richard Schaefer, the top brass of Probellum.
In the interview with Boxingscene, Schaefer said that he is willing to use all his resources to make the bout happen.
Schaefer said Donaire has ‘balls’ to go to Japan and challenge Inoue, while the latter also wants to have a rematch against the Filipino WBC world bantamweight champion.
He believes that the Donaire-Inoue rematch will be one of the biggest fights of the year, considering that both boxers’ careers flourished even more after their first encounter in 2019.
Donaire (42-6, 28KOs) and Inoue (22-0, 19KOs) fought in 2019 for the World Boxing Super Series championship, which eventually became the ‘Fight of the Year.’
Both boxers went toe-to-toe in their fight held in Saitama, Japan.
Inoue won by unanimous decision and clinched the WBA super world bantamweight and the IBF world bantamweight titles.
After their epic bout, Inoue defended the two world titles in 2020 against Jason Moloney, where he won via knockout.
Donaire’s name resurfaced in the bantamweight division after scoring a fourth-round knockout and dethroned WBC world bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali in 2021.
His victory immediately created speculations that he and Inoue would collide again on the ring until WBO world bantamweight king Johnriel Casimero came into the picture, challenging both boxers for a unification showdown.
However, nothing materialized. Inoue defended his titles twice last year against Filipino Michael Dasmariñas and Aran Dipaen of Thailand. He won both matches via knockouts.
Meanwhile, Donaire also went the other direction and defended his title against fellow Filipino and interim champion Reymart Gaballo, where he won via a knockout last December.
On the other hand, Casimero defended his title once last year against Cuban ex-world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. Casimero almost lost the world title after failing to appear in the official weigh-in of his scrapped mandatory world title defense versus British Paul Butler in December.
With Casimero out of the picture, it is clearer who among the three bantamweight champions are going to face each other on the ring.
/bmjo
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Inoue-Donaire 2 in the works? Nonito, Naoya meet again