MALAKI ang interes ng Showtime na ipalabas sa North America at iba pa ng bahagi ng mundo ang nakatakdang salpukan nina four-division world titlist Nonito Donaire Jr. ng Pilipinas at Briton Carl Frampton sa Abril 21sa SSE Arena sa Belfast, Ireland.
Kapwa nagwagi sa kanilang huling laban, natamo ni Donaire ang bakanteng WBC Continental Silver featherweight title nang talunin sa puntos si knockout artist at dating WBC Carribean super bantamweight titlist Ruben Garcia Hernandez noong Setyembre 29, 2017 sa Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas sa United States.
Nagwagi rin sa kanyang huling laban si Frampton ngunit bumagsak muna sa 8th round at kinailangan ang tulong ng mga hurdo para magwagi sa puntos laban kay ex-WBC Continental American super bantamweight titlist Horacio Garcia ng Mexico sa teritoryo niyang SSE Arena sa Belfast, Ireland noong Nobyembre 18, 2017.
Si Donaire ang pinakamatinding laban ni Frampton mula nang maagaw ni Mexican Leo Santa Cruz ang WBA featherweight title niya sa 12-round majority decision sa MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nagpakita ng interes si Showtime Sports head Stephen Espinoza sa sagupaan lalo’t para sa interim WBO featherweight title ito kaya ang magwawagi ay magiging mandatory contender sa kampeong si Oscar Valdez na isa ring Mexican.
“Absolutely, I mean it fits right in with our priorities, not just our history with Carl recently but because of all our activity in the featherweight division and I think it’s just an intriguing stand-alone fight on it’s own,” sabi ni Espinoza sa BoxingScene.com.
“Donaire’s been a little bit inactive but he’s always been an athletic, entertaining fighter and it’s a tough match-up for him in Carl Frampton who’s one of the very best at that weight class,” dagdag ni Espinoza. “Our network is pursuing it (the bout) aggressively and I think hopefully there will be an announcement within the next week or so.”
May rekord si Frampton na 24 panalo, 1 talo na may 14 na pagwawagi sa knockouts kumpara sa mas may karanasan na si
Donaire na may 38-4-0 win-loss-draw na may 24 panalo sa knockouts. - Gilbert Espeña