Nonito Donaire.
Some are calling him the next Manny Pacquiao.
The comparison would be daunting to any boxer.
To know Donaire though is to know a boxer who has just begun to appreciate his worth.
To Donaire, the comparison must feel like cool rain falling from a long dry sky.
Donaire?s first memory of boxing was sitting down in front of the television with his father, Nonito Donaire Sr., and older brother Glenn to watch an Arturo Gatti fight on USA Network?s Tuesday Night Fights. Donaire remembered feeling fear while watching the heavy hits, the pain inflicted by both boxers and the blood drawn.
?After the fight I remember my dad asking me if I wanted to be a boxer and I was like, ?Hell no, no way.?
The story of Donaire as a boxer was not wholly created in the gym or in the ring. The gloves that he laces before every practice, fight or sparring session have felt, at times, like an albatross strung across his neck, weighted and cursed. It is the relationships Donaire has forged along the way that have turned the curse into a blessing, made a wary boy into a determined man, and an underrated boxer into a top pound-for-pound phenomenon.
?I agreed to boxing for my dad, not because I needed it for myself, but that somehow through boxing I could make my parents proud of me,? Donaire said.
If you had walked into US Karate and Boxing in Hayward, California in the mid-nineties, you might have glanced on a skinny Filipino teenager with big ears and an awkward style boxing with a group of his peers. The group included his brother Glen, a teenager from San Francisco named Andre Ward and Andre?s brother Jonathan.
Ward, a year and a half Donaire?s junior, would someday become the WBA Super Middleweight champion, but at US Karate and Boxing he was just a teenager learning the sport under the tutelage of his father Frank, a former undefeated amateur fighter.
Frank would help teach the Donaire brothers and in the process gave Glenn the nickname of ?Filipino Bomber? due to his aggressive style, and Nonito the name ?Flash? due to his love of comic books coupled with his quick hands and feet.
In the early days at US Karate and Boxing, Glenn Donaire would outbox Andre Ward and was the first opponent the future champion would have to overcome. Even though Glenn was the superior boxer, Ward noticed something special in Nonito early on.
?He?s very unorthodox, the total opposite of Glenn,? Ward said. ?Glenn was a power puncher, he would stalk you and try to take your head off. Nonito also wanted to take your head off, but in a more graceful way. He did everything wrong ? right. He was very unorthodox and lightening fast. He did what you didn?t think he was able to do.?
Donaire is more modest when talking about how his style developed, which he said formed with the desire to land punches coupled with the fear of getting hit.
?I didn?t have much power then, it wasn?t until later in my career that I would decide to work on hooks? Donaire said. ?I was very fast with my feet and would move quickly in and out to land and then avoid punches.?
The bond formed by growing up together in the sport of boxing would help carry both Donaire and Ward through the amateurs and would be no small part of their respective successes in the professional arena.
In the amateurs, Donaire met another future champion, Robert Guerrero. The two became close and Donaire, who was picked on at times because of his small frame and different look, had Guerrero to back him up.
?When people tried to mess with me, Robert was always there, like family.?
Recently, Guerrero was at his mother?s house looking through pictures of his days as an amateur fighter in northern California. Many of the pictures were of Guerrero and Donaire spending time together.
?We became really good friends,? Guerrero said. ?We would hang out almost every weekend. That love comes out every time I see him today.?
With a developing talent for the sport and support from his friends and family, Donaire compiled an amateur record of 68-8, with three national championship wins.
At the conclusion of his amateur career, Donaire, feeling that he had done all he could with boxing, was ready to leave the sport behind.
?I wanted to go to school. I didn?t care about boxing, it was my father who decided to bring me to a professional level,? Donaire said.
Donaire, not wanting to upset his father, obliged and in 2001 joined the professional ranks, but while training for a fight Donaire was apathetic and as the fight loomed closer the apathy turned to fear.
Donaire said that walking to the ring sometimes made him feel like a condemned criminal walking into an ancient Roman arena.
?There was that feeling like I could get my arms or legs cut off. I had that fear in my heart and my body,? Donaire said. ?I fought with a feeling of desperation.?
Donaire said his father, as a trainer, would push him too far, expect too much and that the life of a professional boxer was, to Donaire, a joyless one.
Donaire lost in his second professional fight, a five-round decision to Rosendo Sanchez at the Pacific Sports Center in Vallejo, California.
?I knew I could have taken this guy if I had done my best,? Donaire said. ?But I didn?t care about boxing.?
Donaire recalled that the worst thing about losing the decision was looking into the crowd after the fight and seeing the disappointment on the faces of his family and friends. Donaire hated the way they looked at him.
?I quit boxing at that moment,? Donaire said.
If Donaire wasn?t already before the fight, the loss, along with tension with his father completely demoralized him.
Ward, though, had kept in touch with Donaire and saw his old friend needed help. Ward took the time to sit down and talk with Donaire. Having been through similar obstacles, Ward saw an opportunity.
For Ward, the talk was an obligation, the kind that comes out of years of knowing someone.
?It was a friend being a friend, and for him to remember and acknowledge that is an awesome thing,? Ward said. ?I did it as a friend and I feel like he would do the same thing for me.?
To Donaire, Ward?s friendship went beyond a pep talk. Donaire said Ward would go to gym with him to help spark his passion. Ward would also encourage Donaire to take the bus from San Pablo to nearby Castro Valley for physical therapy.
?It was kind of like a stepping stone for me,? Donaire said. ?There were a few times when Dre knew I did not have the money to get going and he would slip me a twenty.?
While trying to help Donaire outside of the ring, Ward and Guerrero led by example inside of it.
?Seeing Andre and myself rising through the ranks inspired him, made him believe he could climb back in the ring and make a good career,? Guerrero said.
It was these close ties that kept Donaire in the sport, notching win after win until he got his big fight, a 2007 meeting with undefeated IBO and IBO flyweight titlist Vic ?Raging Bull? Darchinyan.
Darchinyan, who had beaten Glenn a year earlier, breaking Glenn?s jaw in the process, was brash and disrespectful leading up to the fight with Donaire.
?Darchinyan got me angry and when I get angry I try to think more,? Donaire said. ?I wanted to hit this guy, hurt this guy, make him bleed.?
Darchinyan was undefeated, having knocked out 9 of his 10 prior opponents. Donaire was a 7-1 underdog.
Darchinyan?s unique offense, an awkward open style which had bewildered, lulled and flattened most of his opponents was a non-factor in the fight.
?I knew I could beat this guy with just my jab, but I wanted to prove something,? Donaire said. ?I was going to knock him out and I told everyone that.?
Darchinyan, more worried about righting his stunted offense, did not see the punch coming.
?I saw him knock out a lot of guys with that left hook in the amateurs,? Guerrero said.
Just as Ward had inspired Donaire with his ring work in the past, Donaire?s knockout of Darchinyan paid the favor back. Ward went straight to the gym after watching Donaire fight to train for his upcoming bout with Francisco Diaz.
?Nonito always had the potential to be a great fighter and to see him climb up the ranks as an amateur and a pro, gave me strength,? Ward intimated. ?When he knocked out Vic Darchiniyan, seeing him do that made me want to go train that night because I was getting ready for a big fight as well. Seeing him win a world title was big. I knew if a guy I came up with could do it, I could do it as well.?
Donaire said that Ward called him that night and told him about the motivation the knockout had on him.
?That is the way it is with me and Dre,? Donaire said. ?If I get higher, he wants to get higher. If he gets higher, I want to get higher. We are like brothers. He just makes me want to do better.?
Part Two Tomorrow?
