RING champion Nonito Donaire will face WBA junior featherweight counter part Guillermo Rigondeaux on April 13 at Radio City Musical Hall in New York.
A Saturday press conference is in the works for smack-talkers Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi.
Donaire-Rigondeaux to be announced
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A press conference will be held on Thursday at at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York's Times Square to officially announce the April 13, HBO-televised clash between RING junior featherweight champion Nonito Donaire and WBA counterpart Guillermo Rigondeaux. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum informed RingTV.com of the news last week. The press conference will begin at 12:30 p.m., and the fight will take place at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Donaire-Rigondeaux will be only the second bout to appear at Radio City Music Hall the venue's 82-year existence. The first was Roy Jones' unanimous decision over David Telesco on Jan. 15, 2000 in defense of his IBF, WBA and WBC light heavyweight belts. Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 knockouts) is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who, like Donaire (30-1, 20 KOs), is promoted by Top Rank. Donaire is coming off December's third-round knockout of Mexican former four-division titleholder Jorge Arce, having already made his 122-pound debut with last February's split decision over ex-beltholder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., and followed that up with a unanimous decision over South Africa's Jeffrey Mathebula for the IBF title in July. In October of last year, Donaire's ninth-round stoppage of Toshiaki Nishioka, handed the legendary Japanese fighter his first loss since March of 2004 -- a span of eight years and seven months. Rigondeaux was scheduled to face Thailand's Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym on the Donaire-Arce undercard at The Toyota Center in Houston before his rival's licence was not allowed due to his failed medical exam, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Photo by Naoki Fukuda
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