By Mike Coppinger
NEW YORK -- Nonito Donaire has worked with nutritional guru Victor Conte for the past seven fights, but Conte ended his relationship with Donaire during the camp for this fight without a public reason.
Although neither side would confirm or deny, sources indicate the split stemmed from a conflict related to a business deal connected to Donaire. According to several sources, a member of Donaire's team was getting the boxer a sponsoship deal with a supplement company unrelated to Conte or his products - and an internal disagreement over the business deal may have led to Conte's unexpected departure.
The split came at an inconvenient time for Donaire, who is in preparation for the biggest fight of his career, a Saturday showdown with two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux from the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York.
But Donaire, thinks he is just fine without Conte's help.
"I give people a choice to work with me or not. If they choose not to, then that will be it, that’s fine," said Donaire before his media workout at Mendez Boxing Gym on Wednesday. "But I’m ready for this fight; I have the knowledge. It’s going to be my way. That’s one thing that I’ve learned, nutrition and recovery; I have that in my head. It’s been a few years now. I’m pretty much knowledgeable in that and of course I have a lot of guys coming in who are teaching me a lot of stuff as well."
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