Donaire looks to end year with a bang

At a time when everybody is loosening up for the season of booze and merriment, former world boxing champion Nonito Donaire Jr. is sweating it out in a gym looking to get in the best shape of his career.

Donaire is booked to return to the squared circle this weekend for a 12-round gloved sortie with Mexican Cesar Juarez at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight was originally set for 10-rounds with Juarez’s World Boxing Organization International junior featherweight (122 lbs.) title on the line. At the last minute, the head honchos of the WBO decide to make it a fight for the vacant WBO junior featherweight crown. The move actually makes sense considering that Juarez and Donaire are ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, by the WBO in the 122-pound class. When a title is declared vacant (in this case, it became up for grabs after Cuban Guillermo Rigondeux was stripped of the title), it is customary for the top 2 contenders to mix it up for the vacant throne.