The “Filipino Flash” had recently come off the greatest performance of his career, an HBO-televised, spectacular second-round knockout of veteran Mexican bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel.
But he soon found himself in the middle of a tug of war between boxing’s biggest promoters and archrivals, Top Rank and Golden Boy.
Thinking he was a free agent, Golden Boy gave Donaire a $300,000 signing bonus in March, but he was still under contract with Top Rank.
It was reminiscent of a bigger battle between the companies over another Filipino, Manny Pacquiao, five years earlier, in which Top Rank eventually prevailed.
To make matters worse, Top Rank’s legendary boss, Bob Arum, insulted Donaire and his wife Rachel, who Arum blamed for working out the deal with Golden Boy. Arum was quoted as saying Rachel Donaire “dressed like a hooker.” And Nonito, he said, was not a pay-per-view-caliber talent and never would be.
As with Pacquiao, Top Rank won out in court. The Donaires were stung by some of the comments, but they did their best to put it behind them.
“My wife was there to support me. She gave me good advice, and she was actually the one who came in there. She’s a strong woman who wants the best for me,” says Donaire. “So regardless what was said, it was her duty to eliminate any obstacles I had in my career.”
