Andre Ward commands Oakland, Robert Guerrero commands San Jose, and that sticks Nonito Donaire with . . . San Francisco. Donaire confirmed Monday that the wheels are in motion for him to fight at AT&T Park on Aug. 22 in a bid for Jose ?Carita? Lopez?s WBO super-flyweight title.
So that?s practically settled, then? Well, not quite. ?I still haven?t gotten a contract,? Donaire said, which jibes with last week?s news that the ballpark, which houses the San Francisco Giants, has nothing to announce yet either. ?Nothing is certain,? Donaire concluded. ?But the Giants and Top Rank want to make it happen.?
Filipino Heritage Night is a major reason why. Top Rank?s Bob Arum told several reporters this month that the hubbub at the Giants? Filipino Heritage Night on April 27, featuring Manny Pacquiao, made Arum believe the Phil-Am community would support Donaire at least as enthusiastically as Oakland supported Ward last weekend and San Jose supported Guerrero in March. Apparently the Giants were impressed, too.
I reached Donaire by phone on Monday in San Mateo, fitting considering his seizure of the west side of the Bay Area. His wife, onetime taekwondo champion Rachel Marcial Donaire, retains an outpost there, and I caught them on the eve of a trip to Hawaii. By early June, he expects to be training again (and so does she).
So where do you supposed he would train? After dropping his father from that role, he trained for his April 18 tour de force victory over Raul Martinez in the Philippines by communing at the mountain hideaway in Baguio where veteran fighter Gerry Penalosa holds sway and older brother Dodie Boy Penalosa also figures prominently.
So let others join Pacquiao and the mob at Freddie Roach?s Wild-Card Gym in Hollywood. ?I?ll probably go back to the Philippines, because I have a lot of sparring there,? Donaire said. ?I?ll find a shorter guy (to pose at Lopez) and find another one here and come back a month before the fight.?
And that will be on the Peninsula, not Wild-Card, which is ?too hectic? and presents too many scheduling requirements. In Baguio, ?I dictate my own pace and my own time,? Donaire said.
Lopez (39-7, 32 knockouts) hasn?t lost since 2001, but it?s hard to imagine the 37-year-old Puerto Rican dealing successfully with Donaire?s height and reach advantages, among others. Donaire is under the impression Lopez is ?an inside fighter like Martinez? but acknowledged, ?I?ve never really seen him fight, so I don?t know how he fights.?
It probably won?t matter against the man whose ascension to No. 8 in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings came about a year sooner than seemed possible before the sensational victory over Martinez.
?I was like, wow, really,? Donaire said. ?I didn?t expect it to be this year, because I still think I have to prove a lot. . .to prove to myself, to everyone. I was very surprised and I was very honored.?
It?s one of his keys to The City, as it makes him the Bay Area?s most important fighter in a century.
At the junction of Donaire?s success and that of Pacquiao, the floodgates are opening for the Filipino-American community on a leading edge of the big upsurge in Bay Area boxing.
