Nonito Donaire Jr is getting the worst of opinion from fans and sportswriters when it was reported that he has opted to jump ship and sign with Oscar de la Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotion.
But nobody has really seen the fine prints of his contract with Bob Arum?s Top Rank, which the later claimed is still live. Neither has anyone produced a copy of the deal he allegedly signed with Golden Boy.
Assuming, in arguendo, that Nonito indeed signed a multi-year and multi-fight contract with Golden Boy, can he really be faulted?
Nonito is already 28 years old. Maybe not yet in his full prime but arguably no longer an upcoming fighter.
When his countryman Manny Pacquiao was at his age, the Filipino eight-division boxing champion was already earning more than a million bucks per fight. Nonito and Manny of course are two different boxing specimens, like comparing apples and oranges. What is due to Manny definitely is not true with Donaire.
But give it to the dude, Nonito knows that with Manny still around and with Top Rank, he cannot get the superfigths and the megabucks that are due him. With no offense to Uncle Bob. Manny is simply eating too much of Top Rank?s attention and resources it may take another couple of years before Donaire gets his seven-figure fights on a regular basis.
With Golden Boy, Donaire thinks he will become the top attraction of Bob Arum?s hated rival.
I don?t think Arum will go out of the way to stop Donaire from fighting by obtaining a restraining order from the court while his expected lawsuit against Nonito and Golden Boy goes underway. I do think Uncle Bob is a magnanimous fellow and he won?t hurt the sensibilities of the Filipino fans of Donaire, for all the flak the boxer is getting from them for now, by forcibly putting the Fil-am fighter in limbo. The Harvard-educated lawyer, who once served in the Kennedy administration, is simply too classy for that.
Bob Arum is now on the top of the heap of boxing promotion. He threatens to form an alliance, if he hasn?t yet, with old time rival Don King to bring back boxing to its glory days.
But Oscar still holds HBO in check with his existing contract, albeit already waning appeal.
Golden Boy now has a cash cow in the making in Donaire, probably the most promising among the top ten pound for pound boxers to one day occupy the top spot which Manny will eventually relinquish once he retires. Golden Boy will make sure Donaire will be happy by giving him more than he probably deserved to keep him away from Top Rank.
Need I remind everybody how many of Nonito?s critics and advisors once goaded Manny to sign up with Golden Boy for the same reasons Donaire has now in mind?
When the dust is settled, I still think Donaire will emerge victorious ? business-wise. Career-wise? May be.
But do not be too hard on Nonito. He has a family to keep. A career to protect. And an ambition to make. If, for him, it meant breaking away from Top Rank, so be it.
Top Rank or Golden Boy, Donaire will always be an elite fighter and we still would want to see him conquer greater heights. Come on, don?t be spoil sports. Leave Top Rank and Golden Boy to cut each other?s throat. After all, we are not relatives with them, are we?
