By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire is set to fight Mexico’s hard-hitting Hugo Fidel Cazares for the WBA super flyweight interim title at the Event Center at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on August 15.

Promoter Bob Arum told us in a telephone conversation from Las Vegas that “they are calling it an interim title fight but it will end up to be a title fight because (Vic) Darchinyan who is the champion is fighting at a higher weight (bantamweight) but that fight will occur before the Donaire fight. So by the time the Donaire fight takes place it will be for a full championship.”

Australian Vic Darchinyan, the reigning WBA, WBC and IBF super flyweight champion goes after the IBF bantamweight title of Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko in Sunrise, Florida on July 11 and provided Darchinyan wins he is expected to relinquish his super flyweight titles and move up to bantamweight thus paving the way for the Donaire-Cazares winner to be proclaimed a full champion.

The 31 year old Cazares has a record of 30-6-1 with 22 knockouts and will be coming off a 1st round knockout of Margarito Lopez in a scheduled ten round bout last June 13, 2009.

Prior to that Cazares won the WBA Fedelatin super flyweight title with a unanimous eleven round decision over Roberto Vasquez on March 24, 2009. Cazares dropped Vasquez in rounds one and two and was himself dropped in round eight. In his first fight this year, Cazares scored a 3rd round TKO over Jorge Romero on February 28, 2009.

Cazares is currently ranked No. 1 by the WBA, No.3 by the IBF, No. 5 by the IBO and No. 7 by the WBC. A former WBO light flyweight champion, Cazares won the title with a 10th round technical decision over South Africa’s Nelson Dieppa on April 30, 2005 and defended the title successfully four times before losing by a split decision to Ivan Calderon on August 25, 2007.

In a rematch one year later Calderon won a 7th round technical decision after an accidental head-butt caused a severe laceration on Calderon’s forehead and all three judges had the Puerto Rican ahead on points.

Donaire who won the IBF/IBO flyweight titles with a stunning 5th round, one punch stoppage of Darchinyan on July 7, 2007 is having problems making the flyweight limit and wants to move up to super flyweight.

Donaire who has a record of 21-1,14 KO’s is coming off a smashing 4th round TKO over previously undefeated Raul “Cobra” Martinez who had an impressive 24-0, 14 KO record before Donaire dropped him four times en route to a fourth round stoppage.

A classy boxer with power in both hands, Donaire who is training at the Undisputed Gym in San Carlos, California told us he welcomed the title fight against Cazares. He said Jonathan Penalosa, the brother of former world champions Gerry and Dodie Boy Penalosa had joined him in training camo and “everything is pretty good.”

Cazares is an aggressive fighter and a hard puncher and as noted boxing writer Graham Houston noted in the past, he is a “difficult and dangerous opponent for anyone.” Houston noted Cazares can boxing as well as fight and said his “constant switching from the orthodox to the southpaw stance can be confusing.”