Nonito Donaire aims for glory in his forties after sealing another crack at a championship in the world’s boxing capital.
“Filipino Flash” returns to the ring in a WBC shot scheduled for July 15. He takes on Mexican Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This fight will be part of the Frank Martin and Artem Harutyunyan bill.
Nonito Donaire vs Alexandro Santiago
The WBC first ordered the fight in February as part of the division’s rebuilding efforts following the departure of Naoya Inoue.
Donaire (42-7, 28) first got the call to fight Jason Moloney, who decided to fight for another organization. This opened the door for the WBC number six Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KOs), last seen defeating Antonio Nieves via technical knockout.
Donaire turns 41 in November and is fuelled plus inspired by the prospect of again contesting a WBC Green and Gold Belt.
Santiago is a solid fighter whose only loss since 2014 came by a close decision against Gary Antonio Russell.
Panya Pradabsri
World Boxing Council Minimum Champion Thai Panya Pradabsri successfully defended his title. He defeated Japanese challenger Norihito Tanaka by technical knockout in the eighth round in the main bout of a card in Rayong, Thailand.
Pradabsri dropped Tanaka in the first round with a pitch-perfect counter left hook and staggered him in the third with right uppercuts. After four rounds, the WBC open score had Pradabsri ahead 40-35, 39-36, and 39-36.
Tanaka’s trainer dove into the ring in the eighth round to save his fighter from further punishment.
This was Pradabsri’s direct rematch with Tanaka, whom he defeated by decision in August of last year. With the victory, Pradabsri raised his record to 40-1, with 24 knockouts.
Meanwhile, Tanaka, 38, left his record as 20-10, with ten knockouts.
Pradabsri will face the interim WBC champion, the Japanese Yudai Shigeoka.
