Filipino star Donaire set to fight in February

A popular Filipino boxer will fight in Las Vegas in February. But no, it’s not Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, the Philippines’ most popular boxer, will fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13. Plans could be finalized this week for the fight to be in Las Vegas.

But Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao, has finalized its first pay-per-view card of 2010, and the Philippines’ second-most popular fighter will headline.

Nonito Donaire, the WBA interim super flyweight champion, who is 22-1 with 14 knockouts, is set to fight Gerson Guerrero (34-8, 26 KOs) on Feb. 13 at the 4,500-seat Las Vegas Hilton Pavilion. The 12-round main event is being billed as “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3.”

The card also features WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (39-2-2, 29 KOs), who will defend his title against Ciso Morales (14-0, eight KOs) in a 12-round bout. And former WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel (41-2, 21 KOs) will meet two-time world champion Gerry Penalosa in a 12-round WBO bantamweight title elimination bout.

“Each of the fights has a Filipino facing a Latino,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “We’re hoping to bring a lot of Filipino fans to the Hilton. Donaire is very popular, both with the Filipino fans and the American fans. He comes from the same town (General Santos City) in the Philippines as Manny, but he’s lived most of his life in the Bay Area, and the American boxing fans know him well.”

The Hilton, once an active player in the Las Vegas fight scene, wants to make a comeback, and Arum said the card will be the start of a relationship with the hotel-casino.

“I remember doing the (Muhammad) Ali-(Leon) Spinks fight in 1978 at the (Hilton) Pavilion,” he said. “This is not a one-shot deal. We plan to do several shows at the Hilton.”

Tickets, priced at $250, $150, $100 and $50, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Hilton and all Ticketmaster outlets.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.