Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire, the WBO junior featherweight champion and 2012 Fighter of the Year, smiles during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, announcing his championship unification bout against Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux, of Cuba, the undefeated WBA super bantamweight champion on and two-time Olympic gold medallists. AP
Despite having a roller-coaster career and contrary to public perception, Nonito Donaire Jr., swears he still has that fire left in him.
Now knocking on the door of superstardom yet again, the 32-year-old Donaire told Boxing News Online that, “I still want to do this,” and resume his career that took sharp turns the past few years.
Donaire has lost two of his last six fights, one of which ended by a knockout. And even with a growing family, he said retirement is farthest from his mind and that he still has a lot left in his tank.
Donaire, once one of the flashiest crowd-drawers in the sport, is being pitted against unbeaten Briton Scott Quigg, the current holder of the WBA super bantamweight belt. Though, talks are still on-going between Top Rank’s Bob Arum and Quigg’s camp.
He also admitted to the news portal that there are some things he failed to do when he lost to Jamaican slugger Nicholas Walters, who handed him his first-ever knockout defeat in Carson, California last year.
“I still want to do this. But I was torn between the new things I should be doing (in training) and the old things because I was fighting bigger guys. I needed to let my body have more time to prepare,” Donaire said.
Against Walters, who stopped him in six rounds for the WBA featherweight title, Donaire said he only trained for six weeks when he usually allots eight weeks to prepare for a fight.
He blamed himself for not listening to his trainer and father, Nonito Sr., as he “kind of just did the things that I do” which is primarily looking for an opening to launch his bread-and-butter left hook.
“With my dad, I’ve just never given him a chance because since we got together I never really listened. Even with (former head trainer) Robert (Garcia), I didn’t really listen.”
Donaire also rued that fact that he was distracted by other things outside the ring.
“Fighters should be training all year round, like regular athletes,” he said. “I wasn’t doing that at all, I was going out, doing photography, doing this, doing that, and it was crazy because I managed to get as far as I did without the proper focus or without giving it 100 percent.”
This time, according to Donaire, he will be “giving it all I’ve got,” and follow his trainer, Nonito Sr., and implement strict regimen on himself.