Donaire seeks WBA crown

Nonito Donaire puts himself on the verge of scoring a victory for the ages when he battles defending champion Seiya Tsutsumi for the World Boxing Association bantamweight title on Wednesday night in Tokyo.

At 43, Donaire will become one of the oldest fighters to wear a world title in the event he upsets Tsutsumi, who, at 14 years his junior, is the solid betting favorite.

The scheduled 12-rounder takes place at the Kokugikan Ryogoku Sumo Arena where Donaire probably makes one final attempt to win a world championship.

During the official weigh-in on Tuesday, both fighters stepped on the scales at 117.2 pounds.

Tsutsumi enters the ring with a 12-0-3 win-loss-draw record eight knockouts while Donaire makes one last stand with a 43-8-0 mark with 28 knockouts.

On paper, Donaire appears to be the favored fighter given his vast experience and the quality of opposition he has faced in a career that kicked off almost a quarter of a century ago.

But the Filipino-American puncher, a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, has been quite inconsistent the past decade or so.

In that ten-year span, Donaire suffered two losses, including a savage second-round knockout, to Naoya “Monster” Inoue, Alejandro Santiago, Carl Frampton and Jessie Magdaleno.

In that long stretch, Donaire also scored a couple of big stoppage wins against Nordine Oubaali and Reymart Gaballo, making him a dangerous fighter still even at this age.

Tsutsumi himself acknowledged that while Donaire is no longer in his prime, taking him lightly is out of the question.