Donaire v Vazquez Jr, Chavez Jr v Rubio + more from San Antonio

It's a terrific weekend of Boxing, with a very good bill in German on Saturday night, as well as a very solid show promoted by the Hattons in Bolton. However it's hard to ignore this Top Rank bill, definitely the biggest so far in 2012 in the USA, and the two main fights make it a great show for HBO and Box Nation viewers. The undercard should also be live on the Top Rank site, who's coverage is fantastic.

Chavez faces Rubio in an all Mexican title fight

According to Boxrec the fight of the night is the 5 star all Mexican middleweight showdown between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (44-0-1, 31 KO's) and the in form Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KO's) for the WBC middleweight title. It's #4 in the world v #9 and it's Chavez's mandatory, this after a very easy win over Peter Manfredo Jr in November, whom he stopped in five, but to his credit looked very good.


A lot of people doubt Chavez, which is unfair as he's had pressure on him from the off being the son of one of the greatest, if not the greatest Mexican fighter. The kid gets a lot of support in Texas and he'll certainly get the home town decision if it's close, which I have a sneaky feeling may happen. He's taken a while to really impress, but in his last fight his skills looked much improved, and at 25 years old he could continue improving. However he did have a hard fight before the Manfredo win, narrowly taking a majority decision over then unbeaten Sebastian Zbik.


Rubio's only previous world title challenge and his last loss came in February 2009, when he was stopped in nine rounds by an in form Kelly Pavlik, who dominated him in a one sided fight. "El Veneno" has come back very strongly though and has stopped his last six opponents, including a stunning 7th round TKO over David Lemieux in Canada last April. The worry with Rubio is that in his last fight he came in overweight and having had 59 fights, it doesn't get any easier from now on. This is his world title chance and the betting money has been for him, but I just think Chavez continues to improve under the tutelage of Freddie Roach and will have the superior technical skills to get a win over 12 rounds.


One of the best P4P fighters in the world Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire (27-1, 18 KO's) steps up in weight once again as he faces Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (21-1-1, 18 KO's) for the vacant WBO super bantamweight title.

Donaire with Robert Garcia at the media day this week

Donaire is a three weight world champion, and moves up to super bantamweight, this after a stunning 2nd round stoppage over Fernando Montiel last year, a fight many people were calling a 50/50 fight, but the man from the Philippines looked sensational. He followed that fight up with a relatively disappointing defence of his unified titles v Argentine Omar Andres Narvaez, where the challenger's style was way too negative for a world title fight.


The style of that fight wasn't made for Donaire, but he came through it and it was very easy. He's regarded as one of the best P4P fighters in the world and is based at probably the best gym in the USA at the moment in Robert Garcia's Boxing Academy in Oxnard, where he will have been built up physically for this tough test. His class will most definitely be there, it's all about how he deals with the bigger man.

Vazquez arrives in Texas

Vazquez has already been a holder of this belt, but lost it in a great fight in May 2011 against the very experienced Jorge Arce, who stopped him controversially in the 12th round, a fight which two of three judges scoring had level going into that final round. He's a typical Puerto Rican fighter, very quick, throws solid combinations and is obviously a big puncher with a near 80 KO%. That Arce fight isn't one he shouldn't have lost, and might just have been a blip, but we will find out a lot about him here.


Styles make fights and this one should be an absolute classic. They are the same height, both guys can punch, but for me Vazquez Jr is made for Donaire. Arce is smaller than Donaire and is now a world champion at bantamweight, which is a real worry for Wilfredo. It will be interesting to see how hard Nonito hits at this weight, but I do think Vazquez's style, plus Donaire's class, can see him get a late stoppage win.

Team Maritrosyan head to Texas this weekend

The chief support to these two fights is a WBC Silver light middleweight title between Vanes Maritrosyan (31-0, 19 KO's) and Troy Lowry (28-11, 17 KO's). Maritrosyan is ranked #10 in the world, but isn't a big star yet, despite having  a lot of fights already. Originally from Armenia and now based at the Wildcard gym, he's a fighter with a lot of skills, but hasn't beaten many hungry fighters, and again faces a journeyman type here. Lowry has lost six of his last seven, so how is he allowed to fight for a WBC belt I don't know. The likes of Andy Lee and Peter Quillin have had no problems with him in his recent fights, and it really should be an easy win for Maritrosyan.

Omotoso is another Wildcard fighter on show

Unbeaten Mexican Raul Hirales (15-0-1, 8 KO'sOmotoso (20-0, 17 KO's). Like Maritrosyan is based at the Wildcard, he's a seriously talented fighter who's been based in the US for about a year now and is being backed by Top Rank. Ranked #21 in the world, he took a UD points decision over Lanardo Tyler last time out, showing that fighting in Australia and the USA is completely different. He is learning and will carry on progressing, here he faces inexperienced Mexican Nestor Rosas (11-2, 7 KO's) beaten in his last two, one of which was way back in February 2006, where Victor Ortiz KO'ed him in five.


If you're watching online on the Top Rank site, there's a good chance you'll see inexperienced youngsters like lightweight Ivan Najera (5-0, 4 KO's) and welterweight Juan Saucedo (1-0, 1 KO) in action, as well as bantamweight Adam Lopez who makes his debut. Hopefully one of these will prove a good find this weekend.