Nonito Donaire Back on November 5, But Not Against Anselmo Moreno

Ronnie Nathanielsz reports that bantamweight star Nonito Donaire will fight once again on November 5, but Bob Arum says that Donaire won't be facing recent Golden Boy acquisition and fellow titlist Anselmo Moreno, who turned the fight down, according to Arum.

Donaire (26-1, 18 KO) said he wanted to fight in October and December, but the new plan is to have him fight on November 5 -- Arum promises a good opponent, so we'll see -- and then move up to 122 pounds in early January. We know that Donaire has mentioned a fight at 122 with Jorge Arce, and that could be a good TV bout, given that both have exciting styles and Arce doesn't back down from challenges, plus Arce holds a belt.

But Arum hopes to match Donaire in January with the winner of the October 1 fight between top super bantamweight Toshiaki Nishioka and Rafael Marquez. That fight will take place in Las Vegas, a rare trip to the U.S. for a top Japanese fighter, and if Nishioka were to win and then fight Donaire, it would be at least a little reminiscent of the first fight between Marquez and Israel Vazquez, when the top-ranked bantamweight (Marquez) moved up to face the top-ranked super bantamweight (Vazquez).

No TV has been made official for either fight, but Donaire would seem likely to be on HBO on 11/5, the week before Pacquiao vs Marquez III, which is being carried by HBO pay-per-view.