Relatives, friends and at least one physician were pleading with superflyweight superstar Nonito Donaire Jr. to return to the Bay Area from the Philippines even before he was hospitalized Thursday with a high fever.
Doctors think he might have contracted dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus, and were testing for that Friday morning (Thursday afternoon here). He’s in good hands until that, or until whatever landed him in the hospital, clears up.
But after that, he’ll be surrounded by many, many hands if he stays in the Philippines, where for much of two weeks he has been singing on “Celebrity Duets,” a popular TV reality show, honoring the late president Corazon Aquino by meeting her survivors, and rallying causes he supports financially, such as a school project in Bohol.
Nonito and wife Rachel were due in the Philippines about a day after his Aug. 15 fight in Las Vegas, so Donaire did most of his post-fight unwinding on the plane. No one thinks he caught up then or has caught up since.
“They can’t get rest there,” said Becky Marcial, Donaire’s mother-in-law. “He needs to come back here,” she said, meaning that Donaire usually is not recognized in public around the Bay Area and can hibernate easily here.
San Francisco-area physician Charles Antonini had been urging him to do that after Donaire’s taxing 12-round victory over Rafael Concepcion. Based on GMA video footage from the Philippines, Donaire’s wan appearance reinforced Antonini’s concerns.
“The fatigue factor does come into play,” Antonini told me by phone. “He has to understand his body’s a temple. . .that his whole occupation is his body.
Antonini confirmed that Donaire, 26, is well-situated to battle dengue fever. Asian Hospital in Alabang hospital is one of the most respected in the Philippines, which has a long history of medical advancement. The physician also speculated that the dengue fever would subside in less than two weeks and that subsequent muscle aches and fatigue wouldn’t inhibit Donaire’s training schedule in the long run. That’s assuming Nonito takes his advice in the short run.
Antonini isn’t positive he will, because Donaire’s “character and kindness” make him responsive to being needed in the Philippines, where “Jun just can’t say no.”
