Yes, he was fighting as a southpaw in his recent outing and yes he has well documented issues with making weight for his fights, but can anybody ignore the fact that Nonito Donaire just hasn't looked very impressive since his 2007 upset of Vic Darchinyan? Top Rank has been coddling him since Donaire parted ways with Gary Shaw and has been matching him up against awful opposition, as they have done in the past with fighters like Juan Manuel Lopez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I'm starting to doubt that he can beat any of the top contenders in his division. Up next is a title fight with the dangerous Fernando Montiel in Mexico this fall, a fight that will finally show what Donaire is made of, but it really is a shame it's taken this long to see Donaire against a live opponent again.
HBO Throws Down The Gauntlet
I can't always say I've been a fan of HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, but he finally manned up and is taking initiative to improve HBO boxing. First, Greenburg has claimed he's "finished" with the Heavyweight division unless either Klitschko's face each other, WBA Champion David Haye or Tomasz Adamek. Secondly, he's pushing for better match-ups, such as a Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez rematch for October and a Devon Alexander-Timothy Bradley unification in January. Third, he's not wasting his airspace on Golden Boy Promotions' farce of a pay-per-view card that will have Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora in the main event. Could it be that HBO boxing has had enough of overspending on unnecessary and lopsided fights this year and are now trying to put on more competitive bouts, just like their network boxing rivals Showtime? Let's hope this isn't too good to be true.
Ever Heard Of A House Duck?
I'll go out and say it right now: Top Rank wants Cuban Featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa to face the roughest opposition possible prior to a megafight against Puerto Rican champion Juan Manuel Lopez. Lopez had to fight the feather-fisted Steven Luevano last January whereas Gamboa had to face the man who nearly beat Lopez, Rogers Mtagwa. Just last weekend, Lopez blasted out Bernabe Concepcion setting up a big fight against the battle-worn Rafael Marquez and this fall, Gamboa faces off against dangerous puncher Elio Rojas in a title unification match. Even though they'd never say it, I think it's in the best interests of Top Rank to keep Gamboa far and away from Lopez.