Nonito Donaire: record, next fight and profile →
The WBO Interim Featherweight World Title will be on the line when Carl Frampton MBE and Nonito Donaire clash in a blockbuster bout at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Saturday 21st April, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
WHAT SHOULD PROVE to be a scintillating sequence of top-end featherweight fisticuffs got underway at the weekend when Oscar Valdez retained his WBO belt with a convincing points victory over Scott Quigg. Next up, our boys join the party, with Carl Frampton taking on former four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire in Belfast on April 21 – which we hope will also become a final eliminator for the WBO title – before Josh Warrington challenges Lee Selby for the IBF world title at Elland Road in Leeds on May 19.
Scott Quigg wants Carl Frampton to beat Nonito Donaire next month. Quigg figures if he upsets Oscar Valdez on Saturday night and Frampton defeats Donaire, it’ll build momentum for their rematch. England’s Quigg suffered his only professional loss to Northern Ireland’s Frampton, a split-decision defeat two years ago in their super bantamweight championship unification fight in Manchester, England.
To put it lightly, 2017 was a difficult year for Carl Frampton, but now he's in a good place ahead of his date with Nonito Donaire. 'The Jackal' returns to the SSE Arena in Belfast on April 21st, where a win could set up a summer stadium showdown at Windsor Park. Frampton teamed up with Jamie Moore towards the end of last year, and told the BoxNation Podcast that he's enjoying life at the VIP Gym, alongside the likes of Martin Murray and Jack Catterall.
Despite being one win away from potentially securing his childhood dream, Carl Frampton is not getting carried away. Standing in his way is 'Filipino Flash' Nonito Donaire, who has lifted World Titles in four weight divisions during a stellar career. A triumph over Donaire on April 21st could set up a World Title shot at Windsor Park stadium in the summer, with the winner of Lee Selby v Josh Warrington a possible opponent for Frampton.
The Northern Irishman has drawn a line under the last 12 months, in which he lost his world title and split with his trainer and his manager. Carl Frampton feels he is enjoying boxing more than ever before and that 2018 could prove the best year of his career to date. That would make for a stark contrast to last year, which the former two-weight world champion in November labelled “disastrous” just before he outpointed Mexico’s Horacio Garcia at the SSE Arena in his native Belfast.
Carl Frampton respects Nonito Donaire's punching power, but thinks he can match his Filipino foe in that department. On April 21st, the two-weight world champion meets four-weight world champion in a mouth-watering match-up in Belfast. Donaire, 35, has admitted that the bout is make or break for him, and there is plenty at stake. The winner could potentially be in line to face Lee Selby or Josh Warrington in the summer.
Carl Frampton (24-1, 14 KO’s) is getting for one of his toughest career fights, against former four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire (38-4, 24 KO’s) at Belfast’s SSE Arena on the 21st of April.
LAST WEEK WE set the Belfast bandwagon rolling with official confirmation of what should be an enthralling night at the SSE Arena on April 21. Carl Frampton said before his last fight that it would be the highest quality card staged in his home city, but I believe we have now got one that will surpass that November night.
After a patchy and unsettling 2017, Carl Frampton begins the year re-energised and dreaming of a world title bout in Windsor Park. At the start of last year, he held world title belts at two different weights and had just been crowned fighter of the year by both Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers' Association of America.