It’s NEVER easy if you’re an athlete and your father is your coach. But then again if your father was there for most of your success, you’d want him back there even if you disagreed and split up somewhere along the way.
This has been the case for Nonito Donaire Jr. who is scheduled to climb the ring anew on March 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. This time he’s fighting here at home and not in Las Vegas or anywhere in the United States. He will share the spotlight with ALA Promotions main man Donnie Nietes who will battle Mexican Gilberto Parra.
Boxing fans will understandably assess the slick Donaire who was outmuscled and knocked out by Nicholas Walters in his last fight. The damage was difficult to watch and nudged experts to think that the Filipino Flash took on so much more than he could muster.
But such is boxing, where risks are taken in order to reap more glory and inevitably more financial rewards.
The loss to Walters and all the talk about his supposedly ebbing skills are not lost on Donaire who calmly admitted in the press conference for the fight night that he believes his scheduled 12-round battle against William Prado of Brazil will be a barometer that could determine the rest of his career.
“I’ll realize if I’m done or not,” Donaire explained. He is a five-division world champion but even the very best begin to doubt themselves when dealt a heavy and stinging setback.
He has renewed confidence though boosted no doubt by the return of his father, Nonito Sr., as trainer. When asked if he missed his father’s voice in the corner during the time they had their differences, Donaire was quick to say yes. “Even in the noise of a fight, I could hear his voice to remind me what to do,” Donaire reminisced.
I have often wondered how players and fighters could hear the voices of their coaches in the din of battle. A crowd screaming niceties, curses, catcalls and encouragement at the same time creates a cacophony of sounds that can drown the corner’s instructions and motivational pleas.
Players would tell me that a coach’s voice would pierce through the noise. It was almost like your father calling you home even as all your playmates were yelling at the same time and on a noisy street at that.
This is probably true for Donaire as well. His father’s voice where boxing advice and fatherly concern blend will be back and be a familiar one when he returns to the ring this month.
He will need that voice as well to guide him where to go once the smoke of the battle fades and the result is known.
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