Cassidy H. (Queens, NYC): I’ve heard you speak strongly about Donaire in the past. Seems like he has all the momentum going into his clash with Rigondeaux this week. How do you see it all playing out?
Vivek W. (ESB): Nonito Donaire is one of those fighters I’ve always carried very close to heart. I love his genuine attitude outside the ring, as well as his ability inside of it. What has given me mixed emotions regarding Donaire in the past was the fact that, to me, he appears to be one of those talents that live up to the level of his competition. When the media starts placing your name on the mythical P4P list, and the sport starts tossing out accolades such as “Fighter of the Year”, and those type of things…..I think you truly have to bring a certain level of consistency to rate them. In my mind, Donaire hasn’t always carried the level of consistency I’d like to see in a fighter placed on such a high mantle.
#2 WBA Marcos Maidana is picking 23-year-old Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) to defeat WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) in their fight on June 22nd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Joe Calzaghe knows a thing or two about WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) after having beaten him by a 12 round unanimous decision in a grueling fight in 2007. After watching some of his recent fights, Calzaghe believes that Kessler’s physical skills have deteriorated enough since their 2007 to where he’s now vulnerable to losing to IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) in their rematch on May 25th in London at the O2 Arena. 
IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) has decided to squeeze in what should be an easy stay busy fight against unbeaten challenger Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) on May 4th at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany. 
WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) was recently able to WBC welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) to agree to go toe-to-toe with him in their fight on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
Top heavyweight prospect 6’7” Deontay Wilder (27-0, 27 KO’s) says he’s ready to put British heavyweight Audley Harrison (31-6, 23 KO’s) out of his misery this month in ending the 41-year-old’s career by knocking him out in front of his own British fans on April 27th on the Amir Khan – Julio Diaz card at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, UK. 
WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) thinks his opponent WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) won’t be able to make the right adjustments when things don’t go his way this month in their fight on April 20th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The World Boxing Council updated their rankings this week and installed Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) as their number #2 contender at 147. This is a clear move to put Khan in line for a title shot against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. because there’s no other way of looking at it. The WBC has positioned Khan for Mayweather and it seems like that’s a fight that the WBC wants because why else would they rank a fighter whose career is sinking at the moment. 
Light flyweight Zou Shiming (1-0) got his career off to a good start with a four round unanimous decision on Saturday night in beating Valenzuela (2-2-1, 1 KO’s) by a four unanimous decision in a fight that was pretty much one-sided from start to finish at the Cotai Arena, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Shiming used his jab and fast hands to land at will against the more limited Valenzuela. Zou had Valenzuela hurt from a left hand in the 2nd, but he didn’t have the power to add to it. The judges scored the fight 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36.