Boxingtalk caught up with Nonito Donaire. The IBF flyweight champion is publicly bashing his promoter Gary Shaw, saying he received unfair treatment. Donaire alleges that Shaw didn’t provide his team with the correct amount of hotel rooms, and didn’t give him the proper amount of time to prepare for his fight against Luis Maldonado (which Donaire won). Additional allegations accuse Shaw of asking, ?Who does he think he is, Manny Pacquiao?? In fairness and respect to Gary Shaw, Donaire admits in this interview that he received only second-hand information and didn’t hear it personally.
BT ? Firstly, champ, let me thank you for coming on board Boxingtalk.
ND ? Thank you for having me, it’s always a pleasure to get out here and talk with the fans.
BT ? Let’s start with the allegations that you made about Gary Shaw.
ND ? There was a lot that went on, and I do want to say that I cannot discredit Gary Shaw because he gave me the opportunity, and he made me who I am. He gave me the opportunity to get the title. There were a lot of things that went on, two weeks before the fight [like] my opponent already knew where and when he was flying to. I didn’t even get that information, I didn’t know where, or what time, we had a lot of people coming in. There were a lot of things, like the hotel rooms. It’s funny because when I fought as a challenger, I was treated better than I was treated as the champion. I had 5 rooms as a challenger, and my manager had his own room. This time I had a lot of my family coming, and we were relying on a suite. I asked for 5 rooms, and was told that one of them was for my manager, Cameron Dunkin. I told them that I thought we get 5 rooms, and Cameron’s room was separate from that total of rooms. They got mad at me for asking that, and I didn’t hear this personally, but someone said they heard someone say, ‘Who does he think he is, Manny Pacquiao?’ That really made me mad because I am not asking for anything, I am just asking for a place for my family to settle down and be comfortable. I don’t like anyone in my room, I am a quiet guy who likes to mediate, and have peace.
BT ? So in fairness to Gary Shaw, you didn’t personally hear him say that comment?
ND ? I heard it from Cameron Dunkin or Claudia that said he said that.
BT ? Do you feel that it’s the promoters job to take care of the flight information, or is that the managers job?
ND ? Cameron kept asking and e-mailing them to get us the information. We e-mailed Cameron asking about it, and he told us that he didn’t get the information yet. I needed to know so I could make arrangements. Aside from that, my opponent got his flight information two weeks before hand, so why didn’t I?
BT ? Gary Shaw informed me that he wasn’t responsible for the gate/seating arrangements. What is your response to that?
ND ? Well Gary gave me the ticket, he is the one who gave me the tickets to where my family would be sitting. All I know is that my opponents family, and Gary’s family were all sitting together. All I know is that I heard that they bought Maldonado’s contract, and Cameran talked to him and was told by him the following, ?Oh we are going to knock Donaire out this time.’ There is a conflict there, but I don’t really care about that…. All I know is that my family was three rows behind Gary and Maldonado’s family, and that just added to this whole thing.
BT ? Are you feeling that because you knocked out Vic Darchinyan that Shaw has some sort of bad blood for you?
ND ? I really don’t know, I am not the kind of person to create conflict. In front of me, Gary is a very nice person. He is always smiling, he kisses me on each cheek when he sees me. Maybe it’s a coincidence, so I don’t know why he acts like this when I am not around. Maybe it’s an accident that this happened but I really don’t know. Maybe he wanted Darchinyan to fight Arce, and I ruined that. All I did was win the fight, I did what any fighter would want to do. I only had a month to train for this fight, I was constantly losing weight for this fight.
BT ? Hypothetically, if I am your promoter, you are my investment. Why would I do anything to put my fighter at a greater risk to lose?
ND ? I don’t know, maybe there is a hidden agenda, or hatred.
BT ? But if there is a hidden agenda, and or if there is bad blood between me and my fighter, I would just release the fighter.
ND ? I really don’t know about that, everybody is different and people do different things. I also asked if Gary Shaw if he could get my brother a fight, and he never got my brother a fight. My brother hasn’t fought in over a year. Maybe he just doesn’t like Filipino’s, I also heard from other people that he said that Filipino’s are liars. I was shocked to hear that, he’s my promoter.
BT ? Well when I read your comments I was really surprised, and thought perhaps that you had been misinformed. Do you feel that this is all do to some misinformation?
ND ? Like I said in my last interview, I am willing to sit down and talk. Anything is possible, maybe it was misinformation, but from what I hear from people he is different away from me, as opposed to in front of me. It may be a misunderstanding, but I felt like I was being treated like a challenger.
BT ? When would you like to sit down and talk this out with Gary, I would hate to see a good relationship go bad if this is a case of miscommunication.
ND ? My trust is with my manager, so whatever he says goes for me. We have been through a lot, and a lot of people didn’t believe in us from the beginning. Like I said, I am always appreciative of Gary Shaw without him I would have never have gotten here. I was stressed out going into that fight having to worry about where my family was going to stay, and how I was going to make it work. Thankfully it all worked out in the end because we made compromises. I feel that I was not treated well, and I didn’t do anything to make Gary feel that way about me. He also promised my manager that he would give him 50 percent of the television rights from The Philippines, and he didn’t do that at all.
BT ? Was that in writing?
ND ? No Gary likes to do things verbally.
BT ? Nonito, one thing you will have to learn is that you always have to get things in writing.
ND ? Yes, that’s why I am not really tripping about that. We are loyal people, and what we say we stick to it. I am not so much worried about that part, it was the stuff that I had to deal with before the fight. Everything was not well managed.
BT ? You have a lot of fans out there…
ND ? Cutting in ? Well like I said before, I always thank Gary Shaw, and I am not discrediting him, he made me and I am appreciative of that. But I can’t have this, I had a lot of pressure, it was my first defense. Everybody was watching, my family was there watching.
BT ? The last time I interviewed Gary Shaw he was very, very complimentary of you.
ND ? Even I am confused by this, I am not the type to ask questions. I usually just train hard, and do it. I felt this time that we were being bullied.
BT ? Well you’re a world champion now, so I hope that you are treated as such.
ND ? I heard this from the media in the Philippines that Gary called me a one hit wonder, and my manager Cameran Duncan heard that he said that too.
BT ? Well again, I am not here to say if Gary said that or not, but I again ask, why would a promoter do anything or say anything to jeopardize his fighter like that?
ND ? I don’t know either, but this time I have to question what’s going on. We don’t have a problem with anybody, we just fight and if we have the right time to train, no problem. I want to be on top, and do everything that I can to win each fight. I still have a lot to prove, but when I get into that ring I want to give everything that I got.
BT ? You have a bright future ahead of you, and I hope that you guys can sit down and talk all of this out.
ND ? Right, I understand that.
BT ? If these allegations about what Gary Shaw have merit, then he needs to work that out, but hopefully all can sit down and work it out.
ND ? I pray that we can work it out too, I don’t ask questions, I just go out there and fight. I am not discrediting him, and I thank him for the opportunity to fight for a world championship, and for being on Showtime, and for getting the whole world to know me.
BT ? Well let’s move on and talk about the rematch with Vic Darchinyan, if it happens.
ND ? Well I have already figured Vic out already. He’s always a tough guy, and he can pop. I have my own pop too, and I will work very hard and be focused. I am confident like I was the first time. Anything can happen in boxing, especially when you’re fighting someone with his power. I am not going to take him lightly. Whatever he comes at me with, I will work hard so that I will move the way I want to move. For me, I am not afraid of anyone, in fact I want to fight the best because it brings out the best in me.
BT ? After you knocked Vic Darchinyan, he wasn’t exactly humble about it. Did that bother you?
ND ? No I actually laughed, I was going to tell him that if he wanted a rematch, let’s do it right now. He has his own ways of looking at things, you have to understand that he felt that he was unstoppable.
BT ? Thanks for joining us Nonito. Is there anything that you would like to say to your fans in closing?
ND ? Well I want to thank the media, because without you guys I am nothing. I am always humble because without the fans and the media, I am nothing. I am sorry about this miscommunication, I just want to make sure that my family gets what they want in the near future. Hopefully God willing I will get to fight the best out there in the future.
