Somewhat overlooked alongside the smorgasbord of action on offer over the weekend was the news that Nonito Donaire has continued to ignore promoter Bob Arum’s offers of a May fight date.
Arum was quoted recently as saying that the proposed date is now off the table, and that he hadn’t heard from Donaire since the fast rising Fil-Am attempted to leave Top Rank for rival promotional outfit Golden Boy.
That attempt was blocked after mediator Daniel Weinstein determined that Donaire’s existing contract with Top Rank was still valid, and ruled that it should be honored before he can fight for Golden Boy.
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Since then relations between Donaire and Top Rank have seemingly deteriorated to the point that Bob Arum will instead attempt to deal with Donaire through his manager Cameron Dunkin.
Speaking to the Manila Bulletin, Arum said:
“Hopefully they?ll come to their senses and finish the contract with us,” said Arum. “I will promote him for the rest of his contract really hard, really well. When his contract is over, he is free to go anyplace he wants.”
Aside from the fact that Arum blocked Donaire’s move to Golden Boy, the fact that Arum later made several disparaging comments about Nonito and his wife Rachel is thought to be the main reason why there is now bad blood between them.
So long as Donaire is under contract with Top Rank however, his only options are seemingly to either deal with Arum or remain inactive.
Even appealing the decision of the mediator in the courts leaves him with essentially the same options for the time being because of the time scale involved with the legal process.
Besides anything else is also the fact that Donaire really isn’t hurting Arum by refusing to fight for him.
Bob Arum has a roster of close to fifty fighters on his books, and also promotes the biggest fighter in the sport today in Manny Pacquiao. As good as he has become Donaire remains a star very much still in the making and at this stage is a drop in the ocean in terms of what his fights bring Top Rank in income. Advertisement
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Donaire himself on the other hand is in his prime now, and will only lose momentum by putting off the inevitable.
One of the main reasons Donaire felt that he wasn’t being promoted properly while with Top Rank was because of the fact that he didn’t fight often enough.
Waiting a year or more before fighting again now isn’t going to help any of the involved parties.
Top Rank lose a little money.
Donaire loses the momentum that beating Fernando Montiel built, as well as the chance to fight Top Rank signed fighters.
Golden Boy are left with a fighter who has been inactive and who has potentially once again failed to capitalize after attaining a career defining win.
Also Donaire’s opinion of Arum aside, surely his motivation in attempting to leave Top Rank for rivals Golden Boy was that he had misgivings about how his career was being handled, and was eager to fight more often, become a bigger draw and secure more high profile opponents.
In signing with Golden Boy he achieved exactly that.
Donaire’s name was plastered all over the headlines of numerous boxing publications after the news broke that he was jumping ship, or at least trying to.
Top Rank in turn now realize that they will have to try a lot harder to keep Donaire now that there are other offers on the table.
That means the fights he wants, as often as he wants them and much bigger pay days to boot. The exact terms that Golden Boy likely promised him.
Essentially Donaire has already won.
Ignoring Arum’s attempts to get him back on track and back in the ring is only going to hold him back.
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