The co-main event pits WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Nonito Donaire (37-3, 24 KO) against unbeaten Jessie Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KO), the sanctioning body’s top-ranked contender. Donaire out-slugged Cesar Juarez for the vacant belt last December and smashed an overmatched Zsolt Bedak last April in his sole title defense.
Magdaleno is untested, but he’s at least young and a proven finisher.
Up at featherweight, Oscar Valdez (20-0, 18 KO) makes his first title defense against Hiroshige Osawa (30-3-4, 19 KO). Osawa is unbeaten in his last sixteen fights and has knocked out eight consecutive opponents, but his best win came over Kosuke Saka in 2014 and none of the other eight are in BoxRec’s top two-hundred for the division. Valdez, who ran roughshod over Evgeny Gradovich last year before thrashing Matias Rueda for the belt, should be a prohibitive favorite.
Zou Shiming (8-1, 2 KO) opens the show with a rematch against Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym (39-1-2, 24 KO) for the WBO flyweight belt Juan Francisco Estrada left behind in his move to 115. Shiming won a wide decision over Onesongchaigym in 2014 in his last fight before falling to Amnat Ruenrong.
The Thai has scored twelve consecutive knockouts over stereotypical Thai competition since losing to Shiming, including a debuting fighter and one man who was 1-25 in his previous twenty-six fights. Shiming himself has beaten two nobodies since the Ruenrong fight.
Before the show, recent gold medalist Robson Conceição will make his pro debut in a six-rounder.
These fights cause a stir in anyone’s wallets?