As first reported by Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com, the co-main event of Saturday, July 15th's Showtime Championship Boxing card between Nonito Donaire and Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title will no longer happen at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Instead, the fight will now take place on the undercard of the Errol Spence Jr. versus Terence Crawford, as part of the Showtime Pay-Per-View event on July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
At this time, the reason for the switch is not specified, but it appears that a fight on the undercard of Spence vs Crawford may no longer be happening prompting the last-minute move. The delay will have no impact on the title implications of the fight, as it still aims to fill the vacancy left by the former undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, who fights later this month against Stephen Fulton Jr., in Japan.
Alexandro Santiago, a 27-year-old boxer from Tijuana, will be in his second world title fight of his career. Santiago fought then-IBF junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas to a draw in September 2018 in Oakland, California. Many believed the fight could've been awarded to Santiago. Santiago was riding an eight-fight win streak until losing to Gary Antonio Russell in November 2021 but has rebounded quite nicely winning three consecutive fights.
Nonito Donaire, a Filipino-American boxing superstar, and former four-division titlist, aims to break his own record as the oldest fighter to win a bantamweight title, Donaire achieved this feat at 38-years-old. Donaire will enter this bout as a 40-year-old man, and a win would mark his fourth bantamweight title reign. Donaire is widely regarded as one of the best bantamweights in the history of the sport. Donaire last fought in a rematch against "The Monster" Naoya Inoue, losing via a second-round knockout, after a memorable and classic first fight which was widely praised by critics and fans alike, as Donaire took Inoue the distance in the fight - and gave Inoue a lot of problems. Donaire hasn't fought since losing to Inoue last year and has been awaiting the opportunity to compete for the vacant WBC bantamweight title.
