By Ryan Burton
WBO junior featherweight king Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18KOs) appeared on a recent edition of BoxingScene's official audio show, The Boxing Lab to speak about his upcoming unification fight against IBF champ Jeffrey Mathebula (26-3-2, 14KOs). The fight will be aired live on HBO on Saturday.
Donaire usually is the bigger man in the ring but that won't be the case when he faces the 5'10" Mathebula. Donaire feels that this fight will help him prepare for when he moves up in weight.
"I really want to be the undisputed champion in this weight class. He has a belt and I want that. I want to move up in weight eventually so this will get me ready to fight bigger guys," Donaire told us on The Boxing Lab.
Donaire also said that former WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (who voluntarily asked for Champion Emeritus status) will be ringside for his fight.
"I respect Nishioka for saying he wanted to fight me. He will be at my fight and he has a chance to call me out face to face," Donaire stated.
The Filipino fighter said that he regards Nishioka (39-4-3, 24KOs)as the best fighter in his division and would like to face him after the Mathebula fight.
"I believe he is the best in the division right now. It is too bad he lost his belt. The way he beat (Jhonny) Gonzalez, who is a tough guy showed how good he is. He looked really good against (Rafael) Marquez as well," he concluded.
You can listen to the interview in its entirety here: http://tobtr.com/s/3308401
Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton