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Philippines, 22 Feb 2026 |
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Team Donaire: Fighting together By Robbie Pangilinan PhilBoxing.com Mon, 23 Jan 2017  For the Donaires, it is always a family affair. Four-weight world champion Nonito has his wife Rachel in his team, where his father is the chief of security. Rachel was also in the Taekwondo National Team as well as in Honors Classes in high school, then the US Collegiate Team, the US National Team and the Philippine National Team. She was also in the military. Rachel likewise supports organizations the help battered women and children and advocates for women?s rights. From the moment she met Nonito, Rachel knew it would be exciting. They competed from the very start. And, 10 years hence, it still is as exciting and competitive. ?I met him September 2007. I had a party with my friends at a local club and one of my friends had invited him that night. It was definitely not love at first sight. I thought he was arrogant and rude. Cute, yes. But rude. He also didn?t think I was very nice because I didn?t wait around to talk to him. So from the start I think it was a competition between us . Even down to if I played the piano, he had to sing right next to me,? shares Rachel. The two got married on August 8, 2008 in a private California ceremony then a church wedding in the Philippines on November 11, 2011. Rachel describes being with Nonito as ?like being with a permanent best friend.? The mother of Nonito?s two boys says she does not trust anyone the way she trusts her husband. ?It?s so easy to talk, hang out, and be with each other. We never get sick of each other. I always hear of wives who can?t wait to get a night out without their husbands. I miss him if I go to dinner without him,? she lovingly states, adding that they keep each other strong and sometimes sane. Rachel thinks the reason they get along so well is because she was also a fighter. She understands the sacrifices ? not going out to see friends, passing on dinner invitations, cutting weight, and having to switch the fighter on in the ring. ?I wouldn?t have him any other way. Even if he was a basketball player, that is so different than a fighter. I believe it takes way more of a person to be a fighter because you simply can?t just sit on the bench when you are injured or tired. It takes a different kind of person,? says Rachel, who, while pregnant with her first child, was injured while saving a drowning child. Rachel describes The Filipino Flash as very affectionate and loving. ?Sometimes I wonder if the flattery will ever die down but it never has. Even when I was 195 ponds with our first born, he still told me I was beautiful. He wants to always show that he loves me,? she adds. For Rachel, Nonito?s spontaneity is both a perk and a downside. Perk because of the surprises and undying sweetness; downside because it is completely opposite her nature which is to overly plan things and finding letting go difficult. Rachel gets two hours of gym time every day ? a relaxation and a mind reset for her even though it may be physically demanding. She tries to do two days of Barre and either two days of bootcamp or two days of cycle per week. She also includes infrared sauna to help sweat out toxins and adds in a long run with boxing once a week. Rachel also watches her diet. Fork and Knife Kitchen, a meal preparation company in Las Vegas, supplies the Donaires with nutrient-dense food. Rachel keeps the carbs to a minimum and east a lot of chicken, fish twice a week, and malasado eggs with coffee. To destress, Rachel just works out as she knows that sweating out toxins and getting yourself physical exhausted has a way of being a gateway to destressing. After that, a glass of wine and a movie or bath does the trick. Rachel believes it is important to be fit not because she is married to an international sports personality, but because her children are watching. ?I believe that obesity is high because children are being more inactive and less health-conscious. The way kids grow up with habits is how they live their lives as adults. An old mentality was ?let kids eat what they want, they?ll burn it off.? While that is true, the habit that is formed is life-threatening as they become older. For example, soda and friend chicken might not sound so bad for a 10-year-old, but how do you break the habit when that person is now 45 with high blood pressure, diabetes, and overweight?? Rachel replies. As a family, the Donaires keep fit together. With the two young boys, the couple plays soccer and taekwondo. During the summer, the boys are on their bikes while the couple runs along. As a couple, Nonito joins Rachel for cycle and bootcamp when he is not training. As a team, Rachel and Nonito fight together ? be it for their children, their relationship, or for life itself. # Click here to view a list of other articles written by Robbie Pangilinan.  |
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