WBA interim super flyweight champ Nonito Donaire of the Philippines will defend his 115-pound belt against Manuel Vargas of Jalisco, Mexico, who is a late replacement for Saturday night's main event of Top Rank's Latin Fury 13-Pinoy Power III pay-per-view card at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Nicknamed "The Filipino Flash," the 27-year-old Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) was slated to face Mexico's 32-year-old Gerson Guerrero (34-8, 26 KOs), until the Guerrero was discovered to have suffered a detached retina during Wednesday's pre-fight examination, said Top Rank's Carl Moretti.
The 28-year-old Vargas will be competing at a weight 10 pounds above his last fight -- September's split-decision loss to WBO 105-pound Donnie Nietes when he weighed the division limit. A former WBO 105-pound titlist, Vargas has twice fought at 113 pounds during his career, both victories.
"Manuel was scheduled to fight in Mexico on Saturday, so he's going to take this opportunity instead," said Moretti. "The Donaire-Vargas fight is as good if not better than Guerrero, ironically, but that's the only change."
The rest of the card is as follows: WBO bantamweight (118 pounds) titlist Fernando Montiel, and Puerto Rican-born former WBA flyweight (112 pounds) king Eric Morel, respectively, defending their crowns.
The 30-year-old Montiel (39-3-1, 29 KOs), of Los Mochis, Mex., will face Ciso Morales (14-0, eight KOs) of Bohol, Philippines, and the 34-year-old Morel (41-2, 21 KOs), Madison, Wis., will take on southpaw and former two-time world champion Gerry Penalosa (54-7-2, 36 KOs), of Cebu, Philippines, in a WBO 118-pound title eliminator.
In a scheduled 10-round matchup, 31-year-old Puerto Rican southpaw Mario Santiago (21-1-1, 14 KOs) will meet 21-year-old Bernabe Concepcion (29-2-1, 17 KOs), of Rizal, Philippines, in a matchup of featherweights (126 pounds).
Kelly Pavlik To Face Sergio Martinez -- 'Done Deal'
WBC and WBO middleweight (160 pounds) titlist, Kelly Pavlik (pictured at right) and, WBC junior middleweight king, Sergio Martinez will indeed meet on April 17 on HBO at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, Top Rank Promotions' CEO Bob Arum told FanHouse.com.
Arum told FanHouse on Feb. 5 that Pavlik-Martinez was all-but a done deal, and that it would likely be shown as a double-header, as part of split-site coverage with Canada's southpaw, IBF super middleweight (168 pounds) titlist, Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KOs) defending his crown opposite Puerto Rico's Edison Miranda (33-4, 29 KOs) from Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
"It is a split-site with Canada with Bute, yes," said Arum, adding that Pavlik-Martinez stands to be a soldout, raucous event.
Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) ended a 10-month layoff with December's fifth-round KO of Miguel Espino, whom he floored twice in the fourth round, and, had dropped once more in the fifth before his hometown fans of his native Youngstown, Ohio -- thousands of whom often make the trips to Pavlik's Atlantic City fights where he has built a loyal following.
Pavlik debuted in Atlantic City with a September, knockout of Jermain Taylor for his current titles, then, in succession, stopped previously, once-beaten Gary Lockett in three rounds, and lost to Bernard Hopkins in June, and, October, of 2008 -- both in AC.
A southpaw, the 34-year-old WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion, Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs), who is promoted by New York's Lou DiBella, fought his last bout in Atlantic City as well.
Martinez lost December's spirited, yet disputed 12-round, non-title, middleweight majority decision to southpaw Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) in an action-packed, clash of southpaws during which each fighter was floored in the first round.
Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto 'Close'
Arum said that a June 12 bout between WBA junior middlweight king, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight knockouts), of New York, and, Puerto Rico's former two-time welterweight (147 pounds) titlist, Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) is desired by both fighters, in principle, and simply needs to be finalized.
"We're working on that right now," said Moretti.
Arum had "discussed the fight with the Cotto people, and we're trying to decide whether we should do it on pay per view or on HBO," the CEO told FanHouse last week, adding that he hoped to hold Foreman-Cotto -- a clash of 29 year olds -- at the main arena of New York's Madison Square Garden.
"Cotto's lawyer and manager is coming to Las Vegas tomorrow, so Foreman and Cotto is definitely going to get done," said Arum. "Carl [Moretti] and I, we're talking about the undercard, but we haven't got it finalized yet."
Edwin Valero vs. Tim Bradley
Arum and promoter Gary Shaw have engaged in preliminary talks regarding a potential bout between Arum's Venezuelan 28-year-old WBC lightweight (135 pounds) champion Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KOs) and Shaw's 26-year-old junior welterweight (140 pounds) king, Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs) of Palm Springs, Calif.
Valero is coming off of last weekend's knockout of Antonio DeMarco (23-2-1, 17 KOs) of Mexico, who failed to come out for the 10th round, and Bradley, off of a December's one-sided, 12-round unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Lamont Peterson (27-1, 13 KOs) during which Bradley lost probably one round.
Top Rank first approached Shaw about a possible Valero-Bradley matchup shortly after Valero's win over DeMarco, in Monterrey, Mexico, and, on Tuesday, Shaw told FanHouse that he responded by proposing a June 5 clash between the two on Showtime.
"We have to see what the deal is," said Arum. "Valero is happy to fight Bradley, but we don't yet know what the deal is yet and we'd have to look it over."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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