Newly-crowned World Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire is eyeing a rematch with Guillermo Rigondeaux to avenge his humiliating loss in April 2013.
Donaire became relevant again in the 122-pound division after scoring a unanimous decision win against Cesar Juarez earlier this month to claim the vacant WBO title.
Donaire once ruled the division but his reign ended in April 2013 after he absorbed a unanimous decision loss to Rigondeaux during their WBO and World Boxing Association title unification bout.
Following his loss to Rigondeaux, Donaire moved up to featherweight division and won the WBA title, but lost the belt in his second title defense via a sixth-round knockout defeat to Nicholas Walters in October 2014. He decided to move back to the 122-pound division, where he was won his last three bouts.
The fighter dubbed as "The Filipino Flash" is eager to regain his status as the best in the division by avenging his defeat to the Cuban star, who is also eyeing to reclaim the WBO super bantamweight title after he was stripped of his belt due to inactivity.
"I'm back to 122 pounds, I've come to regain control, I want to regain the division and do what I need to do," Donaire told ESPN Deportes. "If Rigondeaux is still here I would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to face him again and let him deal with this Nonito."
Donaire, who now has a 36-3 record with 23 knockout victories, added that he will not be convinced that Rigondeaux is better than him -- like what most analysts are saying -- until he loses to the former Olympian in a rematch. He said that has learned a lot from his previous defeats.
"I didn't train as hard as I should," Donaire told RingTV. "I didn't study any fights as I should. In the fight, I've seen so many mistakes that I should've capitalized on but the reason that I couldn't is that the muscle memory that I created in training was just the left hook and that's the only thing that I knew how to throw."
However, it remains to be seen whether or not a rematch will happen soon, as Rigondeaux, who improved to 16-0 after winning against Drian Francisco in November, is still studying his options.
BoxingScene also reported last week that Donaire could defend his title against Evgeny Gradovich early next year. Philippine-based publication Rappler also claimed that the 33-year-old Filipino boxing star could fight in the Philippines in March or April.
