Vetyeka, Donaire Make Weight for HBO Featherweight Title Fight

ByTop Rank

WBA featherweight champion Simphiwe “V12” Vetyeka (26-2, 15 KOs), of Mdantsane, South Africa, and 2012 Fighter of the Year Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (32-2, 20 KOs), a native of General Santos City, Philippines, now living in Las Vegas, weighed in at 125.5 and 126 pounds, respectively, on Friday in their final faceoff before their world title battle.

Promoted by Top Rank and Sands China Ltd, in association with Tecate, PS4 and Foreman Boys Promotions, Vetyeka vs. Donaire will be televised from The Venetian Macao Cotai Arena opening Saturday’s HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast, beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will also feature the world super middleweight championship rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves.

Simphiwe Yetyeka:

“I trained three months for this fight. When I fought Chris John it is was my third fight at 126 lb. I knew at that point I had the power to beat him. I was shocked I made him quit on his stool.

“I expect to see the Nonito Donaire that is a bully in the ring. I am prepared to frustrate him. There is only one way to handle a bully. I am a warrior and I am going to return everything he tries to serve me, only it will be hotter. I will take the fight to Donaire from the first bell. I intend to end this fight early.

“It is an honor to be on such special card featuring three world champions from the same division. I have a great deal of respect for Nonito Donaire but I have no fear of him. I’m glad he accepted to challenge me but he is not going beat me. This is my title and more importantly this is my time.”

Nonito Donaire:

“I only want to fight the best. In the featherweight division, that’s Vetyeka. He beat Chris John. Vetyeka’s the true featherweight champion. I have trained harder for this fight than I have in years. I will be moving all over the ring and hitting Vetyeka from different angles. I feel so strong. I’m still evolving.

“As good as I am going to be on Saturday, it’s not even close to fulfilling my potential as a championship fighter. The way I feel today, I think I could be world champion in more divisions…all the way up to 140 pounds. I love training again. Boxing is so important to me. Saturday night at The Venetian Macao is going to be my finest hour.”

Donaire vs. Vetyeka is one of three featherweight world championship battles headlining Featherweight Fury! at Cotai Arena. Undefeated WBA featherweight champion Nicholas “The Axe Man” Walters will defend his title against two-division world champion Vic“Raging Bull” Darchinyan; and undefeated IBF champion Evgeny “The Mexican Russian” Gradovich, making his third consecutive featherweight title defense at the Cotai Arena, will be battling No. 1 contender Alexander Miskirtchian.

Walters vs. Darchinyan and Gradovich vs. Miskirtchian and most of the undercard will be streamed live via http://www.toprank.tv, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. PT. The only major undercard bout not available via the live stream will be the IBF junior featherweight title elimination bout between Top-Five contenders Chris “The Hit Man” Avalos and Yasutaka Ishimoto.

That fight will be televised via same-day delay as the main event on Sólo Boxeo Tecate on UniMás. The winner will be declared the IBF’s No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger to IBF junior featherweight champion Kiko Martinez.