NorCal Quick & Dirty: Mayfield, Moreno Announce Fights

S.F.'s Karim Mayfield, No. 5 in the latest CSNBayArea NorCal Pound-for-Pound Top 10, will make the first defense of his NABO jr. welterweight title against Aris Ambriz of Azusa, Calif., at the Landers Arena in Southaven, Mississippi, on Thursday, Mar. 29.


Watsonville's Carina Moreno, No. 10 in those same rankings, will get another crack at a belt when she faces Arely Mucino on Fri., Feb. 24 in the Mexican's hometown of Monterrey for the WBA interim flyweight title. If Mucino sounds familiar, it's because Ava Knight knocked her out in October to win the IBF flyweight title.

UPDATE (1/29/12): Eddie Croft, trainer and manager of San Carlos flyweight Melissa McMorrow, has informed me that his fighter will be replacing Carina Moreno, who has pulled out of the bout, which will now take place on Sat., Feb. 25., in Guadalajara, Mexico.


The man in the top spot, Nonito Donaire of San Leandro, went on the offensive after rumors surfaced regarding his promoter Top Rank. Such reports have CEO Bob Arum setting him up for a unification showdown with newly minted WBA junior featherweight champ Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba if he should get by Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in a WBO 122-pound title fight on Sat., Feb. 4.

“I want to fight the guys who are willing to fight, like Vazquez, [Jorge] Arce, [and Toshiaki] Nishioka,” Donaire said. “Rigondeaux, on the other hand, is a good fighter and all, and I congratulate him for it, but is it good for the fans? Is it good for boxing? Or, if I hurt him, is he going to do a Narvaez and just run around like he did in two fights ago or a fight ago when he fought on HBO? I don’t want that.”

In November of 2010, Rigondeaux defeated Ricardo Cordoba for the interim WBA 122-pound belt in one of the most action-deprived fights to ever air on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Still, the two-time Olympic gold medalist is a brilliant counterpuncher capable of offensive firepower at times; it is this inconsistency, however, that has turned Donaire off about the matchup.

“And as much as people say, ‘Oh, you’re running away,’ if I’m running away, [and] if you want a Cuban that wants to fight me, then let’s have [Yuriorkis] Gamboa,” Donaire said. “I think that’s an interesting fight. Don’t give me something that’s going to be boring for boxing. If you want a good fight, let’s get Gamboa, you know what I’m saying?”


A USA Boxing-sanctioned amateur card has been announced for Sat., Mar. 17, at L.A. Boxing Gym in Brentwood, per Joseph Garcia.