Donaire: Never Seen A Guy As Relentless As Juarez

By Keith Idec

Nonito Donaire is expecting the toughest of his three fights since Nicholas Walters knocked him out from Cesar Juarez.

Las Vegas’ Donaire (35-3, 23 KOs) and Mexico’s Cesar Juarez (17-3, 13 KOs) are set to fight Friday night at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. TruTV will broadcast their 12-rounder for the vacant WBO 122-pound championship as the opener of a doubleheader.

“I’ve never seen a guy who’s as non-stop [as Juarez],” Donaire said on a recent conference call. “The guy just keeps coming in. You know, you hit him with everything and he just keeps coming in. Each round he just gets stronger and stronger. And he’s a tough guy.

“I’ve faced some guys who are not as relentless as Juarez, and Juarez being younger and hungrier, he’s gonna give everything he’s got. But we’ve studied everything, and mentally and physically we’re at a high right now. And I just feel great. That’s the only thing – I feel great. He can come in tough, but I feel amazing right now.”

The 33-year-old Donaire is an 18-1 favorite over the 24-year-old Juarez, who beat Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. (20-4-1, 9 KOs) by unanimous decision in his last fight, a 12-rounder July 25 in Los Mochis, Mexico. Juarez also upset Puerto Rico’s Cesar Seda (26-3, 17 KOs) by majority decision in his previous fight, an eight-rounder March 28 in Las Vegas.

Donaire has won both of his bouts by second-round TKO since Jamaica’s Walters (26-0, 21 KOs) stopped him in the sixth round of their featherweight title fight in October 2014 at StubHub Center in Carson, California.

The truTV telecast Friday night will feature Felix Verdejo (18-0, 13 KOs). The popular Puerto Rican lightweight is scheduled to box Brazil’s Josenilson Dos Santos (27-3, 17 KOs) in the 10-round main event of a show set to start at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.