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by T.K. Stewart - The first time I saw Nonito Donaire in person was on a cold December night back in 2007 at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Donaire weighed all of 111-pounds on that night. He told me that in order to boil his body down to the flyweight limit he had lost 29-pounds in the weeks leading up to his first title defense against the always tough Luis Maldonado. He would stop Maldonado in eight one-sided rounds after Charlie Dwyer, who I figured must be a sadist in referee's clothing, finally decided to step in and call a halt to a fight that Donaire had dominated.
Since then, little Nonito Donaire has grown – and not just in the literal sense. No longer able to squeeze his body into a flyweight sized suit, the 26-year-old is moving three pounds north to the super-flyweight division as he is currently readying himself to take a shot at Panama's Rafael Concepcion for the interim WBA title. The fight will take place next weekend at the Hardrock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will be televised on pay-per view as “Pinoy Power 2” by Top Rank.
On Thursday afternoon, Donaire spoke with several boxing writers on a conference call and one got the sense right away that “The Filipino Flash” sees himself, and his boxing future, in more grandiose terms than he did just a couple of years ago. The 112-pound division is forever in his rear view mirror as he claimed it would be very difficult for him to ever make the flyweight limit again because “the weight now is very difficult to shed.”
But aside from his weight, and perhaps more importantly, Nonito Donaire now seems to have a larger vision for himself and for his future. He wants to be part of the big picture in the world of boxing and he seems to have finally gotten to a place in his personal and professional life where he realizes that anything is possible. [details]
Donaire weighed all of 111-pounds on that night. He told me that in order to boil his body down to the flyweight limit he had lost 29-pounds in the weeks leading up to his first title defense against the always tough Luis Maldonado. He would stop Maldonado in eight one-sided rounds after Charlie Dwyer, who I figured must be a sadist in referee's clothing, finally decided to step in and call a halt to a fight that Donaire had dominated.
Since then, little Nonito Donaire has grown – and not just in the literal sense. No longer able to squeeze his body into a flyweight sized suit, the 26-year-old is moving three pounds north to the super-flyweight division as he is currently readying himself to take a shot at Panama's Rafael Concepcion for the interim WBA title. The fight will take place next weekend at the Hardrock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will be televised on pay-per view as “Pinoy Power 2” by Top Rank.
On Thursday afternoon, Donaire spoke with several boxing writers on a conference call and one got the sense right away that “The Filipino Flash” sees himself, and his boxing future, in more grandiose terms than he did just a couple of years ago. The 112-pound division is forever in his rear view mirror as he claimed it would be very difficult for him to ever make the flyweight limit again because “the weight now is very difficult to shed.”
But aside from his weight, and perhaps more importantly, Nonito Donaire now seems to have a larger vision for himself and for his future. He wants to be part of the big picture in the world of boxing and he seems to have finally gotten to a place in his personal and professional life where he realizes that anything is possible. [details]
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