Donaire replaces Rigondeaux, will fight Casimero in bantamweight unification fight

Aug. 14 bout will headline Showtime card

Bantamweight titleholders Nonito Donaire and John Riel Casimero both have the goal to become the undisputed world champion. They’re going to fight each other next in an effort to take the next step toward that goal.

Donaire and Casimero will meet on Aug. 14 in the main event of a Showtime card at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Casimero was scheduled to fight secondary titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux in that main event but with Donaire coming out of his fight last month unscathed, Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions opted to finalize a far more appealing fight to unify titles, a source with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite.  

According to the source, Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs), 40, a Cuba native fighting out of Miami, is not injured but was OK with the change and might fight on the undercard. Several days ago the camps began working on having Donaire take his place and the deal was finalized on Saturday.

It will be a rare world title fight between boxers from the Philippines and keep the winner on the path toward an undisputed fight.

“The goal is to become the first Filipino fighter in history to unify all the belts,” Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions, Casimero’s promoter, told Fight Freaks Unite.

Donaire knocked out Nordine Oubaali in the fourth round on May 29, also at Dignity Health Sports Park on Showtime, to win the WBC bantamweight world title. It was the third time Donaire had claimed a bantamweight title and, at age 38, he broke his own record as the oldest fighter to win a 118-pound world title.

After the fight, Donaire, who has won world titles in four divisions, said he hoped to face Japanese pound-for-pound star and two-belt bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue in a rematch of Donaire’s competitive decision loss to him in a unification fight that was the 2019 fight of the year.

While that is still possible later in the year, Donaire could not pass up the chance to unify against Casimero first.

Inoue has also said repeatedly that he wants to become the undisputed champion by winning all four belts and wants to fight either Donaire in a rematch or Casimero. Inoue-Casimero had been scheduled for April 2020 but was canceled when the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the spring boxing schedule last year.

As much as “The Filipino Flash” wanted the fight with Casimero, Casimero was also interested in fighting Donaire. Gibbons reached out to Donaire’s team to see if he was interested and Donaire and his wife/manager/trainer Rachel Donaire were, so Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports, Donaire’s promoter, got to work finalizing the bout.

“I just pursued the fight and was able to get it done,” Schaefer said. “I am very happy for Nonito to have this opportunity.”

Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs), of Las Vegas, was ecstatic on Saturday, writing on social media, “My team does magic. Thank you to Richard Schaefer, Rachel Donaire, PBC, TGB (Promotions) and Showtime. Started camp last week. Belt #2 coming soon.”

The 32-year-old Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) traveled to Birmingham, England in November 2019 and knocked out South Africa’s Zolani Tete in the third round of an upset to win the WBO bantamweight title. He has made one defense, a third-round knockout of Duke Micah on Showtime this past September in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Photo: Esther Lin/Showtime