The Filipino Flash will be part of an historic fight card.
The Terence Crawford versus Errol Spence Jr. unification showdown figures to be a treat all on its own. But Filipino fight fans will have all the more reason to tune in to the fight card itself as four-division world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. will part of it.
Donaire will be taking on Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago for the WBC bantamweight belt vacated by the Naoya Inoue, who has moved up to the junior featherweight division. The Donaire-Santiago title fight was originally slated to take place on July 16. However, it was rescheduled last minute after the Gurgen Hovhannisyan versus Viktor Faust bout, previously penciled in as part of the Crawford-Spence pay-per-view, was cancelled due to Faust withdrawing from the fight because of a back injury.
The Filipino Flash is naturally excited of the switch, noting the historical significance of the Crawford versus Spence showdown.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to become a world champion once again on an already historic night for boxing,” said Donaire in an article published in Boxing Scene. “I’m thankful to my team for this opportunity, and I’m going to do everything I can to make the most of it It’s been an amazing camp, and I can’t wait to get in the ring.”
The Donaire-Santiago title fight will be the second bout of the July 30 pay-per-view, following the clash between super welterweight prospect Yoenis Tellez and contender Sergio Garcia. The fight card will also see lightweight contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz going up against rising star Giovanni Cabrera in a WBC and WBA lightweight title eliminator in the co-main event.