By Ryan Maquiñana
Former two-time world title challenger Glenn Donaire is no longer on the Aug. 27 Marcos Maidana vs. Robert Guerrero undercard at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.
“I was supposed to be facing Jose Cardenas at 115 pounds,” the San Leandro, Calif., resident said, “but now I’m told I’m no longer on it. I was told I was gonna be in it for sure, and that hurts.”
Donaire was then offered a spot by Don Chargin on the Sept. 2 undercard of Eloy Perez’s NABO junior lightweight title defense against Daniel Jimenez in Salinas, but the Filipino was not pleased with the length of the bout.
“They wanted me to fight a six-rounder against one of Goossen’s top prospects, [Michael] Ruiz,” he said. “I would have done it if it were an eight-rounder, but six rounds is way too short. Something like that can go either way if it goes to decision, especially with Ruiz’s backing, and I didn’t make all these sacrifices to come back for a risk like that. I wanted eight rounds, and they said no.”
The 31-year-old Donaire is already tipping the scales at 117, having gotten back into fighting shape after a three-year stint away from the sport to support his family. Donaire was a bus driver and later, a truck driver, a job that can be unforgiving as far as the time commitment.
“I was working a minimum of 54 hours a week, and sometimes over 70 hours,” he said. “When I decided to return to boxing, I’m so thankful for my team at Kennel Boxing for helping me out so I could continue to make ends meet.”
Currently trained at the Kennel Boxing Club in San Leandro by his father, Nonito Sr., Donaire swears that this new version is different than the one that unsuccessfully changed Ulises Solis and Vic Darchinyan in world title bouts.
“I’m 100 percent focused on boxing now,” Donaire declared. “I have the benefit of actually focusing on nothing but training and getting quality sparring now, compared with the past when I had to either work or I didn’t get much sparring before a big fight. I’ve been sparring bigger guys like [super bantamweight] Bruno Escalante for six or nine rounds a day, depending on the day. The power, the accuracy, everything is different.”
Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez had originally confirmed at the initial Maidana-Guerrero press conference that Donaire was on the card. However, one has to wonder if the decision of Glenn’s younger brother Nonito to return the reported $300,000 signing bonus he received from Golden Boy to jump ship from Top Rank had any effect on the bout coming to fruition.
“I have a large amount of family and friends here in the Bay Area, and I promise that I would help sell tickets and contribute to the crowd,” Glenn said. “I hope [Golden Boy’s] still thinking about me, but if not, I pray that when Nonito comes back from the Philippines, that he’ll help me like he said he would and help me get a spot on his next undercard.”
Nonito Donaire, currently in Asia with his wife Rachel, recently stated that he would make his return to the ring on Nov. 5 under the Top Rank banner against an undisclosed opponent, which will take place on HBO according to BoxingScene.com's Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.