Straight from D Source: “I will have an easier time against Darchinyan if we fought again” –Nonito Donaire Jr.
Watch out Darchinyan! Nonito Donaire Jr. (20-1, 13KO’s) is more focused and hungrier than ever and on top of it all, he is enjoying himself. I spoke to Nonito right after his new head trainer, Gerry Penalosa, held a press conference in Cebu, Philippines on Wednesday, February 18. The Donaire camp had to momentarily relocate their training from Baguio city to Cebu to support WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa in his upcoming fight this Saturday.
Nonito is currently training with the Penalosa brothers in Baguio city in the Philippines as he prepares for his title defense against undefeated Mexican challenger Raul Martinez (24-0, 14KO’s) on March 22 at the Areneta Coliseum in Manila.
I asked him how his current training was going and about the differences and adjustments he has had to make since working for the first time with a different trainer. Donaire Jr. recently parted ways with his former trainer and father, Nonito Donaire Sr., after a highly publicized dispute.
“It’s really great because right from the very beginning, me and Gerry (Penalosa), we had that chemistry and then when I met his brother, it just added to the chemistry. The camp is really lively, we’re happy, we’re always joking and we all understand each other, but it’s really the chemistry that makes this training camp better than my last or my previous training camps. Everybody is having fun and my training is on another level,” said Nonito.
He went on to elaborate details of his training camp and told me, “Gerry (Penalosa) is the head of the training camp. He’s the one that calls the shots; he’s the one that says how many rounds I’m going to have to spar and train. That’s the type of fighter that I am. When I am training with somebody, I give it my all and the reason I chose the Penalosa camp is because of their experience and they have their own unique perspective and I just really want to gain and try to listen to everything I can and pick up as much as I can from them.” He added, “another reason why I chose the Penalosa brothers is because I wanted to keep my training open to my father . Anytime he wants to visit and check out my training, the Penalosa brothers have opened the door for him to come and visit anytime. Like I said, I dedicate my next fight to my father.”
I also spoke to Nonito last week during the Darchinyan-Arce clash. At the time, Nonito was in Baguio attentively watching the fight on TV and I was privileged enough to have the one man in the world who truly knows how to beat Darchinyan give me a mini color-commentary on what was going on in the ring. Interestingly enough, from what Nonito was telling me in the early rounds, he was convinced that Arce was not going to win if he kept fighting the way he did. True to form, Arce lost via TKO in the 11th.
I asked Nonito if he noticed anything different or any improvements in Darchinyan’s game since they last fought and how he thinks he will do against “The Raging Bull” in the event that the rematch everybody has been wanting to see between them actually comes to fruition. Nonito quickly responded, “No! From what I’ve seen, he’s pretty much the same old Darchinyan. He lunges, he’s open when he punches and he just wants to get his punches through, disregarding his defense in the process. One thing that changed though is that he’s not as aggressive as he was, which makes him more vulnerable to me because that’s my game. That’s my game!”
He further added, “Fighting him the way he’s fighting now, I think I will have an easier time against Darchinyan if we fought again. I believe I am a lot faster than him; I’m a lot stronger than him. He does have heavy hands, but it’s not like a one-punch knockout that I have. I think I can definitely knock him out again.”
Check back for part 2 of this article, where Nonito bares more of his human side as he gives his thoughts on Gary Shaw’s statements about him and gets emotional as we discuss his rocky relationship with his former trainer and father, Nonito Donaire Sr. In a developing story about said saga, my sources have informed me that the Donaires were live on a local radio station yesterday in Cebu and some really emotional words were exchanged. I will keep you posted as soon as I get more info as well as the audio translation of the conversation as it was spoken in the Cebuano native dialect. Stay tuned!
