By Adrian Stewart Co

Filipino boxer Nonito Donaire, Jr. is set to fight a unification bout this Sunday against American fighter Stephon Young as part of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana in the United States. His original opponent was supposed to be World Boxing Organization world bantamweight champion Zolani Tete of South Africa.

“We can’t control the opponent, just as much as if Zolani, or any opponent, came back with a positive drug test from VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association),” said Rachel Donaire, the Filipino fighter’s wife and manager. “It’s nothing that we should pay the price for, when it was not under our control.

“We made the sacrifices,” she added. “We’ve been training for Tete since November.”

The winner of the fight moves on to face either World Boxing Association regular champion Naoya Inoue or International Boxing Federation belt holder Emmanuel Rodriguez in the WBSS finals.

Last year, Donaire reached the semifinals of the WBSS with a fourth round technical decision win over Ryan Burnett.

The Filipino fighter enters the bout with a 39-5-0 win-loss-draw record with 25 stoppage wins, while Young has an 18-1-3 record, with seven knockout wins./ASC, WDJ