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A lifelong fan of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. has long wanted to pay tribute to his idol in one way or another.
About 3 years ago, Donaire mentioned to me that he wanted to rock a Bruce Lee-themed outfit to a fight. A natural artist at heart, Donaire has never been afraid to incorporate his passion and appreciation for art with his day job as a sweet scientist.
After stumbling on some of my custom designs, Donaire and I collaborated on our first ever custom shoe project back in July of 2009 when he fought for the WBA super flyweight belt against Rafael Concepcion of Panama. The custom boxing boots highlighted an ensemble he wore to pay tribute to the late great former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino. The boots were a hit, and Donaire has asked me to design his boots ever since.
A few fights and designs later, the Bruce Lee theme Donaire had been wanting to bring to life was still yet to be realized. For some rhyme or reason only artists can truly fathom and appreciate, the timing didn’t seem right. But when Donaire found out he was to fight the much taller South African Jeffrey Mathebula, it was hard to ignore the parallels to Bruce Lee’s classic showdown with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the movie “Game of Death”. Advertisement
Donaire will finally get to channel his inner Bruce Lee at the Home Depot Center tonight. He will try to use his quickness and technique to chop down his physically imposing bean pole of an opponent. Paying tributes to legends like Bruce Lee are indeed laudable gestures from athletes who want to recognize the positive impact their predecessors have done for them, but at the same time, it adds pressure to live up to expectations. Will Donaire’s rendition of Bruce Lee be as thrilling? We shall see.
