Going into the Vic Darchinyan fight, nobody gave Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire much of a chance. After all, “Raging Bull” Darchinyan had the kind of crippling power that reportedly enabled him to hold his own sparring much bigger boxers back in Australian gyms.
Darchinyan had earlier brutalized Nonito’s older brother Glenn, breaking his jaw and basically manhandling the overmatched Filipino-American boxer. Nonito not only redeemed family honor but catapulted himself into boxing’s rarefied air with a vicious highlight-reel knockout of his brother’s tormentor back in July 2007, winning the IBF and the minor IBO flyweight titles in the process.
Set in such an improbable situation, this victory should have provided enough momentum for huge paydays in his succeeding fights. Instead, Donaire suffered thru a series of failed fight negotiations and conflicts over money matters with his father and trainer Donaire Sr.
While Donaire received wide acclaim in the months following the biggest win of his career, former promoter Gary Shaw was unable to harness this into big fights for the Filipino Flash. Donaire and manager Cameron Dunkin would then sever their ties with Shaw in a bitter breakup that had the promoter badmouthing both in several interviews, but especially targetting Donaire himself.
In what would further worsen a public relations nightmare, a newly-wed Nonito Jr. would fire his father who had trained him since childhood. Before this event, the eloquent fighter dabbled in broadcasting as part of the coverage crew for Manny Pacquiao’s rematch with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. Donaire proved to be an able analyst, but some of his comments on the iconic Pacquiao during the coverage were not taken very well by some of the Filipino’s faithful.
Dunkin would hook Donaire up with Manny Pacquiao promoter Top Rank probably with an eye on appearing in cards the PacMan himself would topbill. Bob Arum and his matchmakers had entirely different ideas however, as they featured Donaire in Latin Fury/Pinoy Power pay-per-view cards but not once in a Pacquiao undercard.
Bob Arum has openly stated his view that putting Donaire and Pacquiao together would not maximize existing market demographics, as both cater heavily to similar fan segments and would not bring in any additional sales to the same fight card. Perhaps it would be just an additional expense with minimal instant returns for Top Rank, but exposing him to such a massive fight atmosphere would only be investing in his stock for the foreseeable future.
This promotional direction has contributed to the current stagnation in Donaire’s career, because while he is already well-known among true boxing fans he has not yet inspired the kind of fervor from his Filipino countrymen that Pacquiao enjoys. Only by appearing in Pacquiao’s megafights will Donaire be able to showcase his game to the massive fanbase he may one day inherit.
The current imbroglio involving Donaire training consultant Robert Garcia and erstwhile charge Brian Viloria is not helping matters in the least. Brian Viloria and his camp were never thrilled when Donaire first availed of Garcia?s services, partly because of their amateur rivalry and moreso because at this point there is no clear-cut favorite to replace Manny Pacquiao when the time comes for him to hang up the gloves, and both camps see each other as sort of threats in the so-called winner-take-all race. Garcia bolting Viloria?s corner and opting instead to be in Donaire?s side will only cast the Filipino Flash in the villain?s role as the guy who took away someone else?s trainer.
And it is important that Nonito be seen in a favorable light by the throngs in his homeland if he is to claim Pacquiao’s coveted throne in the near future. As it stands now, there are still bitter aftertastes from the much-publicized feud with his father and the perception of arrogance by some quarters on his comments about being his own man away from Pacquiao’s shadow.
Perhaps it is what Donaire really needs, to be away from Pacquiao’s shadow within Top Rank after all. Ironically, maybe he would have appeared in a Pacquiao undercard already had he been with another promoter, and who knows how this would have affected his perceived risk-reward ratio and future fight offers.
Time whistles by while Donaire’s prime is wasted on unworthy opponents and uninspired matchmaking. If he does not figure in a fairly big fight in 2010 he may find himself slowly turning into the kind of high-risk low-reward fighter who only gets due recognition in gyms and old trainers’ tales never to be fully appreciated by the mainstream boxing public.
