Donaire is almost certain of landing a title fight this year but his promoter Bob Arum isn’t sure yet who among the three possible opponents would generate more revenues for the fight.
Donaire’s three possible opponents who are all current titleholders include Scott Quigg of England, Carl Frampton of Ireland and Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba.
Quigg is the current WBA regular super bantamweight champion and undefeated in his eight-year professional boxing career, while Frampton is the current IBF super bantamweight champion and is likewise unbeaten in his boxing career with 21 professional fights.
Donaire’s other potential opponent is Guillermo Rigondeaux, a bantamweight veteran gold medalist in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and likewise undefeated in 15 professional fights. He is the current WBA super bantamweight titlist.
A win against any of these three world titlist will give Donaire another opportunity to share the spotlight with the elite circle of fighters in the bantamweight division.
Donaire’s popularity dropped when he lost to Rigondeaux in 2013 by a unanimous decision. While Donaire won two successive fights after the loss, he found he was not built for the super featherweight division, where he lost to Walters via KO.
Donaire’s loss to Walters was mainly due to his eagerness to test his power and endurance in the next higher weight limit. His handlers may have also thought there were lucrative fights waiting for him if he moved to the next higher weight limit.
It was a disaster waiting to happen as Donaire has been warned beforehand that moving up in weight wouldn’t be good for him.
Among the three potential opponents, Donaire is better off fighting Quigg instead of Frampton because in terms of revenue, Quigg has more supporters than Frampton, especially in UK where the proposed fight would possibly take place.
Also boxing fans would love to watch Donaire and Quigg in the ring because they are both active fighters who like to exchange power punches. Thy’re also fun and enjoyable to watch.
Facing Rigondeaux for the second time would give Arum a nightmare as the Cuban fighter is difficult to sell to fans because of his boring fighting style. Rigo is a very skillful fighter though but like Floyd Mayweather, he also runs and tries to win fights on points and not by knockout.
Among the three titleholders, Arum would probably pick Quigg for Donaire’s next title fight.
