Nonito Donaire. AP Photo
He doesn’t guarantee a knockout, but Nonito Donaire Jr. promised to follow a fight plan that could result in an explosive, abrupt end.
With his usual confidence and careful choice of words, Donaire bared the strategy he will use against Japanese veteran Toshiaki Nishioka in their Oct. 13 WBO-IBF super bantamweight championship bout at Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
“When (the knockout) comes, it comes,” Donaire said at a press conference. “But the proper game plan will show my power, which is what I was known for—lightning-fast counters that were knocking people out because they never saw it coming.
“No matter how tough you are, if you don’t see where it’s coming from, you don’t expect it and it will knock you down.”’
The 29-year-old Donaire, born in Gen. Santos City but migrated to the United States at age 11, said he’s not taking Nishioka—who will be a moving, thinking opponent—lightly.
“I think I’m a lot faster than him,” said Donaire in another interview posted on boxing.com. “But like I said before, speed can be neutralized by perfect timing.”
His trainer Robert Garcia said Donaire is 100-percent ready for his 36-year-old foe but remained cautious about giving a bold prediction.
“I am not pushing or asking for the knockout, but in training he has been doing the right thing,” said Garcia. “If he performs like he did in training I will be happy with him.
“It won’t be easy against Nishioka, but at the beginning of training camp Nonito told me he wanted to come in and do it the way he used to do it— picking them apart little by little then knocking them out,” added Garcia who will be at the corner along with conditioning coach Mike Bazzel.
Garcia cited Donaire’s fitness and praised the fighter’s decision to drop his much criticized one-punch salvos.