No more Donaire-Mares bout
Nonito Donaire Jr.'s first fight of the year with Abner Mares was scratched after the Mexican decided to give up his World Boxing Council (WBC) junior featherweight belt to climb to the featherweight division. ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reported that since a Donaire-Mares bout looked far-fetched, the Guadalajara-born fighter and his manager, Frank Espinoza, decided to move up to the 126-pound division. Mares (24-0-1, with 13 knockouts), who is handled by Golden Boy Promotions, challenged Donaire, one of Bob Arum’s top fighters at Top Rank, for a unification bout. The Filipino Flash holds the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and The Ring versions of the belts. “Moving up to featherweight was already in our plans even before this Donaire situation,” said Mares. “We wanted to fight Donaire, and we did whatever was possible in our power to make that fight. That is the fight that I wanted. That is the fight the fans wanted. It didn’t happen.” Golden Boy Chief Executive Officer Richard...