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By Thomas Gerbasi - If you weren’t paying attention, you might have thought that New York fans were paying their hard earned money to watch rising star Nonito Donaire shadowbox in the ring alone at the WaMu Theater in Madison Square Garden this Saturday night. That’s how much attention has been paid to his real live opponent, Omar Narvaez, despite the Argentine’s stellar 35-0-2 record and status as a two-division world champion.
In fact, Narvaez has had a title belt strapped around his waist for much of the last nine years, and when he won the WBO flyweight championship by decisioning Adonis Rivas in July of 2002, Donaire was 4-1 as a pro and far removed from his current status as the next Manny Pacquiao and a proud member of the pound-for-pound list.
For “The Filipino Flash,” fight week in New York has been a coming out party, with open media workouts, a visit to the Philippines Consulate, talks regarding Filipino-American History month, and all the trappings that go with being the next big thing.
And that’s probably okay with the 36-year old Narvaez, though we can’t know for sure since he’s been so quiet. Yet the reason why we can deduce his acceptance of his role as the unknown soldier is because Narvaez and his countrymen are pretty used to this deal by now. They come over to the United States for the big fights with amazing records, no US TV appearances, and an anonymity that doesn’t intrigue, but just makes you assume that the record was built up on a steady diet of easy marks and that they’re just coming here to pick up a paycheck, make a killing on the exchange rate back home and go back to business as usual. [Click Here To Read More]
In fact, Narvaez has had a title belt strapped around his waist for much of the last nine years, and when he won the WBO flyweight championship by decisioning Adonis Rivas in July of 2002, Donaire was 4-1 as a pro and far removed from his current status as the next Manny Pacquiao and a proud member of the pound-for-pound list.
For “The Filipino Flash,” fight week in New York has been a coming out party, with open media workouts, a visit to the Philippines Consulate, talks regarding Filipino-American History month, and all the trappings that go with being the next big thing.
And that’s probably okay with the 36-year old Narvaez, though we can’t know for sure since he’s been so quiet. Yet the reason why we can deduce his acceptance of his role as the unknown soldier is because Narvaez and his countrymen are pretty used to this deal by now. They come over to the United States for the big fights with amazing records, no US TV appearances, and an anonymity that doesn’t intrigue, but just makes you assume that the record was built up on a steady diet of easy marks and that they’re just coming here to pick up a paycheck, make a killing on the exchange rate back home and go back to business as usual. [Click Here To Read More]
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