by Ronnie Nathanielsz

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who is currently in Los Angeles preparing for the big fight card featuring WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash’ Donaire in his unification bout against IBF champion Jeffrey Mathebula at the Home Depot Center in Carson on July 7, says Donaire “looks sensational.”

The Donaire-Mathebula fight  card will be telecast by ABS-CBN on its pre- eminent Channel 2 at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 8.

When BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard told Arum that Donaire’s trainer Robert Garcia said Donaire looked really good, Arum replied “not good, sensational, sensational, ” and credited Victor Conte and the other members of Team Donaire for doing a terrific job.

Garcia, who is himself a former world champion, told us he is sure Donaire is ready although he still has a few pounds to lose which won’t be a problem.

Garcia told us Donaire “is very strong and gained a lot of muscle.” He said while he isn’t really doing weights “all the work he is doing with Olympic track coach Remy Korchemny and James Bassel is putting on a lot of muscle.”

Arum said the Donaire fight “is going great. We are selling a lot of tickets. There are apparently a lot of Filipinos in the Home Depot area with a big Filipino community so we are concentrating on that community to sell a lot of extra tickets.”

Arum who was guest on a Fox News TV show where the consensus of many was that “we now have to have a rematch” between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley but emphasized “I’m waiting for Manny to come in and talk to him.”

He said the Attorney General is “definitely investigating the bout but they have to interview all the people involved. If you are going to do a through investigation it will take maybe weeks, you can’t just come to a decision.”

Responding to a report that Juan Manuel Marquez is set to fight Filipino southpaw Al Sabaupan should a fourth fight with Pacquiao push through in November, Arum said “I don’t make the decision  about who Manny is going to fight next until I talk to him and that will be early next week” as Pacquiao is scheduled to return to Los Angeles over the weekend with wife Jinkee to resume their vacation with their four children when Pacquiao returned to attend to the needs of his Sarangani constituents who were hit by massive floods.