Nonito Gonzales Donaire Jr. vs. Reymart Grande Gaballo

December 11th @ Dignity Health Sports Park, airing on Showtime. WBC bantamweight title on the line, 1st defense of Donaire.

The champion has an inch of height and ½" reach on his countryman, along with oodles more professional experience (two decades compared with seven years, with the bulk of that being very high-level). The challenger brings youth, momentum and power with a 24-0 (20) record.

For some reason the BoxRec event page doesn't list any undercard bouts as of now, but rest assured the chief televised support will consist of a battle of unbeatens, Uzbekistan's Qudratillo Xabibullo Ogli "The Punisher" Abduqaxorov vs. Canada's Cody "Crippler" Crowley at 147lbs and Brandun "The Silverback" Lee vs. Juan Guillermo "El Cajemé" Heráldez at 140lbs in the Showtime broadcast opener.

 

Gaballo has expressed utmost respect for Donaire, saying he grew up idolizing him and is game planning to be wary of that infamous check left hook - but, if not for the fighters themselves, perhaps for the fans in their respective home provinces (the wealthier Boholano for Donaire, a jus sanguinis dual citizen of the Philippines and U.S. and now a Las Vegas resident, with Nonito's birth town of Talibon a 1st class municipality and beach paradise thriving off tourism - and Cotabateño for Gaballo, born on the reasonably well-off "Pineapple Shore" but moving in childhood to GenSan [where Manny Pacquiao spent his own street urchin days] where he began his training punching bags of sand and had only 30 amateur bouts prior to his debut) there could be a sense of pride along socioeconomic and ethnolinguistic lines of stratification.

 

Here are their last outings.

Reymart Gaballo vs. Emmanuel Rodríguez Vázquez:

This content is protected

(most observers in the RBR had it a draw or close for ManRod)

Nonito Donaire vs. Nordine Oubaali:

This content is protected

 

In fairness to Gaballo, he has made clear in interviews that he is extremely wary of Donaire's left hook and is centering like 90% of his defens game plan on never getting caught by it.


Now, whether he can execute that in gametime conditions is another matter. But he is definitely showing the punch its due respect and honest about the fact that Nonito could basically end him with just one.