As promised, here’s part 2 of my interview with IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. (20-1-0, 13KO’s). Nonito was training with the Penalosa brothers in Baguio City in the Philippines, preparing for his title-defense bout against undefeated Mexican challenger Raul Martinez (24-0, 14KO’s). When I caught up with Jun, as his close peers call him, we discussed his current relationship with his father, whom he had a highly publicized falling out with after his last fight against African challenger Moruti Mthlane. Nonito’s dad, Nonito Sr., questioned Jun’s victory and focus, among other things, and blamed his relationship with his wife, Rachel Marcial-Donaire, as one of the main factors why he had a sub-par performance.
Lately, Jun has been trying to mend his relationship with his dad; so much so that he has dedicated his next fight to him. “My father is my father. Sometimes you’re reminded of your childhood and I will never forget everything he has done for me since I was a young boy. My father is who I dedicate this fight to because he made me who I am. I just wanted to let everyone know that I have not forgotten him. The reason why I chose the Penalosa brothers is because the gym door is open for him.”
Recently, however, on a radio station in Cebu, the father and son saga would take another turn. Jun was invited to the station to promote his own fight as he was in town to support Gerry Penalosa’s fight. Without Jun’s knowledge, the radio station had his dad on the phone waiting and listening in. Jun was caught off guard when his dad was introduced on air after he answered a few questions. Sr. went on and publicly made his personal feelings known about Jun’s decision to rid him as trainer and the state of Jun’s current career. I do not want to quote anyone at the moment as I am still having someone translate the audio for me, but needless to say, there were some bitter words said.
Jun, on his part, kept quiet albeit feeling dissed that the radio station set him up like that. He went on and told me, “I guess our relationship is pretty much the same. I tried to reason out with him on the radio station, but I guess a lot of people understand me now after they heard what happened. I mean, I don’t really know, we were out there, we tried to make things happen and make amends and we saw each other here (Cebu) and stuff like that, but I don’t know.”
On a different note, Jun also responded to Gary Shaw’s statements saying Nonito will never get another crack at his prized ward Vic Darchinyan. “That’s up to them. Every promoter has his own aganda. As a fighter, I only seek those who I feel that are on top of their game. I beat Darchinyan and knocked him out and now he’s come back and had a few good wins, but I think I can knock him out again. I want to take a piece of that, especially one of my goals is to be the first Filipino to have 3 belts, and he can make that happen. I want to fight Darchinyan for his 3 belts so I can achieve my goal, but of course, right now, my focus is on Martinez. I want to fight the best, but if they don’t what to fight me, that’s not my fault.”
Currently, it’s not known whether or not Donaire will indeed be facing Martinez in his next bout. His manager, Cameron Dunkin, revealed on Saturday that the fight, originally scheduled for March 22 and then postponed to April 19, was off due to sponsorship problems. If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate as reports from the camp were very good and Jun had said he felt better than ever. As a fight fan, I was looking forward to his title defense to see if an already accomplished fighter such as Nonito would perform even better and how he benefited from the Penalosa brothers. Perhaps we’ll still get a chance to see as Dunkin is currently working with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to see if Donaire could possibly fight on the March 28 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. card in Tijuana. There are also reports that his title defense against Martinez could still happen. Stay tuned for more news regarding Jun’s next fight as soon as more details are revealed.
