by Ronnie Nathanielsz

WBO/IBF super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire who is deep in training for his clash with WBC super champion Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan at the Home Depot Center on October 13, “ looks good .”

That’s the assessment of trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia who is taking two new sparring partners to the Undisputed Gym in San Carlos City, California to work out with Donaire.

He said one of the sparring partners is lightweight Oscar Diaz, a southpaw who works out in Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, California while the other whose name he couldn’t recall is a fighter from Detroit “who is very fast and a very good fighter.”

In an overseas telephone conversation with the BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard, Garcia said Donaire “looks really good and is better than I expected. He’s throwing his jab real good and has good defense.”

Garcia however warned that Donaire “will have to be very  careful because Nishioka is a very experienced fighter. "

However, the trainer told us “ Nonito is too fast, too smart and I think he will be able to control the fight from the beginning.”

He said he would want Donaire to “go out there and have fun and put more punches, two-three combinations together at a time.”

Asked whether the one year layoff would hurt Nishioka, Garcia said it depends on who the fighter is, citing the case of Floyd Mayweather Jr. who takes three years off and comes back and is better than ever. So we’ll never know unless Nishioka is one of those fighters who is really affected. But he’s good, he will train and he should be fine.