Donaire, Santiago dispute WBC bantam crown July 15
Nonito Donaire (left) and Alexandro Santiago.
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. and Mexican Alexandro Santiago will dispute the WBC bantamweight crown on July 15, the WBC announced
The announcement came while the four-time world champion Filipino was busy training and advocating his waste-to-energy program in Cebu.
The former WBC world bantamweight champion has been in Cebu since April to train with local boxers.
At the same time, he has been visiting government offices to advocate his brand “Level X Energy” which converts waste to energy and other projects.
However, he needs to shift his focus and attention fully to boxing after the WBC announced that his world title shot is scheduled for July 15 at a still-to-be-announced venue.
Although the fight was already approved by the WBC last February, the latter hasn’t announced a date until this week.
Donaire Jr. will finally get a chance to reclaim the WBC world bantamweight title which he lost to Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue last December 6 in Saitama, Japan via a second-round technical knockout in their much-awaited rematch.
Before that, Donaire Jr. successfully defended the world title against interim world champion and fellow Filipino, Reymart Gaballo in December 2021 in Carson City, California via a fourth-round knockout.
Donaire Jr. snatched the WBC world title from French-Morrocan erstwhile champion Nordie Oubaali in 2021.
The 40-year-old Donaire, the former pound-for-pound king has a record of 47 wins with 28 knockouts and seven defeats.
Meanwhile, Santiago is rated No. 4 in the WBC bantamweight world rankings. He has an impressive record of 27-3-5 (win-loss-draw) with 14 knockouts.
The 27-year-old Tijuana, Mexico native’s fight against Donaire will be his first for a world title. Santiago is on a three-fight winning streak.
He is currently the Mexican super bantamweight champion. His last bout was in October last year in Glendale, California versus Antonio Nieves where he won via a seventh-round stoppage. /rcg
RELATED STORIES:
Donaire says he’s ‘improved a lot’ heading into Inoue rematch
Cebu will always be a special place for Nonito Donaire
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
