With the overwhelming support of the more than 20,000 fans during the Time Has Come card, headlined by Nonito Donaire last April, the Queen City of the South has once again been considered to host Nonito Donaire’s next defense, according to no less than ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
In an interview with the ALA Boxing Promotions President after the recently-concluded Pinoy Pride 36, Aldeguer was proud to share that Top Rank Promotions had been impressed with the warm reception from the passionate fans that had filled up the Cebu City Sports Complex to support the Filipino Flash.
“I think the world saw (it). I was overwhelmed and excited with the turnout,” said Aldeguer. “In fact, he [Arum] was talking about it, if we can do it again in Cebu and we were very happy.”
“Cebu is the Boxing Mecca of the Philippines and it was a huge event. We’re so happy that it was very successful and we’re looking forward to maybe another show with Nonito there.”
In addition to the storied history of boxing in Cebu, Aldeguer also pointed out that the success of boxing in the region would not be possible without the support of the people who paved the way and continued to help the sport grow where it is today.
“We’re very, very thankful,” he said with gratitude to the Filipino fans. “I think it’s also been attributed to history of a lot of big events before. The media of Cebu has always been supportive, they’ve played a big role to the success of boxing here. “
“My father who started 20 years ago has always built the sport of boxing in Cebu and we’re very happy that the Donaire fight showed that boxing is alive and Manny Pacquiao has opened doors for everyone and we could always have a world class boxing event in the Philippines.”
Apart from Cebu, three other locations are also being eyed to stage Donaire’s next defense, following his knockout performance against Zsolt Bedak. Manila, Dubai, and California, USA are also being considered by the two promotions.
While all points lead to Jessie Magdaleno (23-0) as Donaire’s next opponent, the WBO World Super Bantamweight titleholder has also expressed a desire for rematch with former tormentor Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0).
“Yes. We’re looking at that. We’re also looking at Manila and in fact, there are about four venues we’re looking at – Manila, Cebu, Dubai and maybe the U.S., we have a scheduled event there in September,” Aldeguer revealed.
“We’ve already made a done deal with StubHub Center, with TFC and ABS-CBN so we’re looking to make a huge event in StubHub on September 24 so that could be a possibility too.”
