The victory brought Donaire the IBF and IBO World Flyweight Title and brought him to the top of the sport, but it wasn?t enough, in Donaire?s opinion, to meet the expectations of his father.
The tension between Nonito and his father intensified during Donaire?s training session for his November 2008 matchup with Moruti Mthalane.
Donaire said he was having an asthma attack during a sparring session, but his father kept pushing him to train harder.
?You need to listen to your body, you need to rest sometimes,? Donaire said. ?The old school doesn?t feel that way.?
For Donaire, the Mthalane fight would be his last with his father in the corner.
Donaire has since tried to assemble a team around him that enriches his fight experience mentally and physically.
In late 2009 Donaire would bring in trainer Robert Garcia, whom Donaire had known since his early days as a professional fighter. Donaire didn?t know where to go with his career and decided to give Garcia a chance.
?Robert has always been respectful,? Donaire said. ?When I brought him in he wasn?t trying to change who I was or what I do. He will look at my fight plan, and try to tweak it a bit to help me out. Having him in my corner is a good thing.?
Another addition to Team Donaire has been former Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) owner Victor Conte.
On first glance, Conte would seem like an unlikely component to Team Donaire.
In 2005, Conte served time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering. The BALCO case became the biggest steroid scandal in sports history, linked to baseball slugger Barry Bonds and Olympic gold medal-winning track star Marion Jones.
Conte met Donaire at a Wells Fargo, a short drive away from Victor?s Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC) office in San Carlos, California. Alex the manager of the bank called Conte over to Donaire and introduced them as two people that might have something in common.
?I didn?t know who Victor was,? Donaire said. ?When I brought him up to people they would say ?He?s the devil, he?s a bad guy.? I didn?t want to judge him though.?
Donaire and his wife, Rachel, did research on Conte to see if he was someone who could help in Donaire?s conditioning and soon after a meeting was set up.
?Rachel is really good in knowing and can detect someone from the heart,? Donaire said. ?My wife was a big part in forming the great team around me?
Conte began working together with Donaire in July 2010 in preparation for Donaire?s fight against Hernan Marquez.
?I would be the easiest guy to judge, but Nonito has enough confidence in his own belief system and his own mind to make his own decisions,? Conte said. ?Once they reached that point of giving me the opportunity, they gave me 100%?
In preparation for the Marquez fight, Donaire trained with Conte using intermittent hypoxic training (IHT). IHT is a service offered by Conte and replicates the effects of living in the mountains and training at sea level, a method of training sometimes referred to as ?live high, train low?, which has proven to show positive results for athletes.
The process, in the estimation of Conte, offers similar benefits to that of erythropoietin (EPO), a blood doping agent which will raise the red blood cell count of an athlete.
?Victor has helped to make me better, he is a very intellectual guy,? Donaire said. ?When he started talking about the sport scientifically, my jaw was on the floor. I was amazed by what he knew.?
Conte did more than work on Donaire?s conditioning; he helped him learn to listen to his body when training hard.
?We know that sometimes it will be a green light day and sometimes it will be a red light day,? Conte said.
Conte?s guidance in training and consideration of Donaire has brought them close.
?Nonito has said I am like a father to him, he has become like a surrogate son to me,? Conte said.
Conte said Donaire is on the forefront of more efficient training for sports like boxing. Donaire, said Conte, is a new school fighter, a scientifically-trained fighter.
?All we are doing is helping him identify the weak links in his chain. He is a guy that is steering the wheel of his future,? Conte said.
There are some fighters who consider themselves born naturals, for them it is just a matter of time for championships to be won. Nonito Donaire recognizes the links in the chain of his life that helped nurture the championship spirit within.
?I can now go into the ring and think of a plan rather than thinking whether or not I will be okay,? Donaire said. ?I know have no fear in my heart now, and the excitement is unbelievable.?
There are people in Donaire?s life who have seen the potential in him all along. To Ward, Donaire has the power to fulfill that potential.
?The way he does what he does, he may not be like anyone,? Ward said. ?He may be the first. Maybe there will be a future boxer that reminds people of Nonito. He is a pioneering spirit, he has that kind of mind. He can rewrite the history books if he continues to win and cement his legacy. He has that kind of potential. ?
Today, both Ward and Donaire are on many top-10 pound-for-pound boxing lists and are looked valued
by many boxing analysts as the future of the sport.
On February 16, Donaire will enter the ring against WBO and WBC Bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel, who is currently listed as the number seven pound-for-pound boxer in The Ring magazine.
Montiel has 44 wins, only two defeats and undiminished skills that had many boxing analysts considering him for Fighter of the Year honors in 2010.
For Nonito Donaire, the fight will be the biggest of his professional career.
A victory will begin to fulfill the high expectations set upon Donaire, a victory that would not be possible without a past that will help define his performance.
