Tough-talking Australian challenger Hussein Hussein is convinced he?ll dethrone IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. when they slug it out in what he predicts to be a war at the Aviation Arena in Dubai on April 18.
Hussein, 32, flew in from Sydney last week and was in Vic Darchinyan?s entourage for the IBF superflyweight title eliminator in Cebu City.
?It?s a chance of a lifetime for me and I won?t blow it,? said Hussein who is of Lebanese descent. ?I?ll do whatever it takes to win. Whatever Donaire does, I can do better. If he wants to box, I?ll box. If he wants to punch, I?ll punch. I?ll adjust to the situation. I?ll come with a plan A and a plan B. Because of my amateur background, I learned how to adjust quickly. In the Olympics, you fight different opponents every day and you?re constantly adjusting.?
Hussein, who represented Australia as a flyweight in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said he?s out to avenge Darchinyan?s loss to Donaire and vowed to stand his ground. Donaire stopped Darchinyan to wrest the IBF crown in Connecticut last July.
?I don?t show up for a fight to run a marathon,? he continued. ?I go to war in every fight. That?s how I am. I come to fight. I went to war twice against (Jorge) Arce. I fought Pongsaklek (Wonjongkam) for the WBC flyweight title. It doesn?t matter to me where I fight. Whether it?s in Japan, Thailand or Las Vegas, fans can expect the same kind of fight from me because I?m a warrior.?
Hussein said he?ll bring along a group of over 50 Australians to Dubai.
?I heard there?s a big Filipino community in Dubai but I think I?ll be the hometown favorite because of my Arab background,? said Hussein.
But his wife Rawaa and their two children Omar, 3, and Ellena, 1, won?t be in Dubai.
?I leave my family at home when I fight,? said Hussein. ?This is serious business and I must be totally focused.?
Hussein said he begins hard sparring six weeks before the bout. Among his sparmates will be Darchinyan, Billy Dib whose style resembles Donaire?s and lightweight Lenny Zeppavigna.
?I?m never out of the gym,? said Hussein. ?If I?m not training, I?m training somebody else. Our family owns a gym in Sydney so I?m around boxing 24/7.?
Hussein is one of five children born to Lebanese migrants. One of his brothers Nedal fought Manny Pacquiao in Antipolo several years ago and was stopped on cuts but not before flooring the Filipino icon. Another brother Billy is his trainer. The youngest brother is Meza, 21.
?I have a lot of respect for Donaire,? said Hussein. ?My brother Billy and he met in Las Vegas and they?re friends. There?s no bad blood among boxers outside the ring. But it?s a different matter when they?re inside the ring.?
Hussein, who once trained with former WBO featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, said Australian legend Jeff Fenech is his model as a fighter. He named Julio Cesar Chavez, Tito Trinidad, Sugar Shane Mosley and Jeff Harding as other fighters whom he has watched closely on tape to learn lessons from.
Hussein is coming off a loss on points to Hiroyuki Hisataka in Osaka but he shrugged it off as an aberration.
?You can?t win a decision in Japan,? he said. ?Did I really lose? Of course not. But sometimes, you get lucky after a loss. Opponents think you?re easy pickings. So I?m not complaining because now, I?ve got a chance to win a world title after a loss.?
Hussein is ranked No. 4 by the WBC, No. 8 by the WBA and No. 10 by the IBF. His record is 31-4, with 24 KOs. Hussein, who turned pro in 1998, has never lost to a Filipino, victimizing Federico Catubay (KO3), Silvio Glinogo (KO2) and Dianever Orcales (W6).
