by Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com has been advised that an HBO televised rematch between Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KOs) and Vic Darchinyan (39-5-1, 28 KOs) has been finalized for November 9th, likely at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Darchinyan's manager, Frank Espinoza, is confident his boxer can avenge a 2007 fifth round TKO loss to Donaire. The rematch is taking place at the featherweight limit of 126-pounds.
"Vic has wanted this fight for years. This is the first featherweight fight for Vic, but it's also the first fight at 126 for Donaire. I'm confident my guy is capable of beating him. It's all about timing. Donaire just took a bad loss with Rigondeaux. It was his first career loss and a fighter usually needs a confidence builder after something like that, but Vic won't be a confidence builder. Vic is coming to take Donaire's head off. Donaire also had surgery since then, and we don't really know how his body will react at 126-pounds," Espinoza told BoxingScene.com.
"Vic knows his dream of winning another world title is at stake here. A win over Donaire could open the door for a title shot in his next fight. Everything is on the line here for both fighters. In their first fight, Vic was the big favorite and now the roles are reversed, but that makes my fighter even hungrier to win. Everyone wrote him off against Orlando Del Valle, he was brought in as an opponent and look what happened. Donaire can't afford to lose a second fight in a row and Vic can't afford to lose a big opportunity like this. The stakes are very high for both fighters."
Donaire-Darchinyan will be part of a tripleheader, which is going to feature Vanes Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs) facing Demetrius Andrade (19-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO 154-pounds title. Discussions continue, but Top Rank and Puerto Rico Best Boxing are still trying to reach a monetary agreement for Roman "Rocky" Martinez (27-1-2, 16 KOs) to defend his WBO super featherweight title against mandatory challenger Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia (32-0, 27 KOs), which is going to be the headliner for the show.