On
the night of October 22nd at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square
Garden, Nonito Donaire was involved in the easiest yet most unfulfilling night
of his career against the reluctant (to say the least) Omar Narvaez, whose sole
purpose was to get out this contest unscathed and cash his six-figure check. It
was an easy victory (120-108 across the board) for the “Filipino Flash” but in
many ways, it felt like, if not a loss, a huge letdown, coming on the heels of
his spectacular second-round stoppage of Fernando Montiel.
Donaire
doesn't disagree.
“Yeah,
everything that you said, I mean, it wasn't even sparring,” he said, a week before
his bout versus Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, televised
by HBO. “It was definitely easy but it was the most frustrating thing I've been
through. A win is a win for me but I want to perform well for the fans. I was
frustrated for the fans. I wanted to give them a good show but I couldn't get
that.”
Not
helping matters was that Donaire himself had some ring rust, not having fought
since February after his well-chronicled dispute with Top Rank, which sidelined
him for much of 2011. During this stretch, Donaire blew up to well above 140
pounds.
“I
think it played into some part of it,” he admitted. “My legs were cramping
around the seventh, eighth round but the thing was [Narvaez] just never gave me
an intention for me to come up with a different game plan. I wasn't used to the
fact that I was the aggressor. Usually I play everything the way it's given to
me but to me, there were a lot of things going on. To me, he didn't want to be
there. That's the intention that he gave me. So he was willing to do anything
and everything [to survive], so I was kinda looking for dirty tactics from him.
So that was one of the factors as well, why I wasn't that aggressive because I
couldn't read him.”
As
the old-timers used to say, one guy was afraid; the other guy was happy for it-
because in truth, it seemed like Donaire fell into the malaise set by Narvaez.
There is a sense that Argentinean could've done more to bring out the fight in
his opponent.
Donaire
added, “But definitely, the ring rust and not taking care of myself for those
seven, eight months of layoff really had a big effect on my mentality and my
physical conditioning. So that's why this time around, I've been taking care of
myself really well.”
As the
rounds mounted, you figured a proud pro like Narvaez (coming into the fight
with a record of 35-0-2 with 19 KOs) who had won world titles at 112 and 115
pounds, would eventually take a chance and open up in the late stages of the
bout. “That was my assumption,” said Donaire of the late charge that never
came. “I figured that he'd try to tire me out through the first seven, eight
rounds and then the last couple of rounds, I thought he'd give it up and go for
it. I was definitely wrong about it. I mean, after the fight, he was very happy
to survive and he said that, ‘Donaire couldn't knock me out while he's knocking
everybody out.’ So that was a big accomplishment on his part but it was very
frustrating for me. I figured a guy with that record and that achievement and
accomplishment would not go down that easily with letting his pride go down
that easily.”
What's
that saying, “Pride cometh before the fall”? Well, that certainly wasn't the
case here. Narvaez's “effort” was so poor, Top Rank president Todd duBoef spoke
of offering bonuses to those who beat Donaire in the future. But really, that
in itself can be taken as an indictment on who is selected as an opponent. You
get the sense that a billion-dollar bounty could've been offered to the
Argentinean and nothing would have changed.
That's
the irony of boxing. It's the one sport that actually becomes a bit more
difficult if your foe completely capitulates. Donaire states, “I believe
there's no one out there in my weight class that can beat me. I work hard and
I'm very confident in myself but I'd rather give a good performance and you're
right about that- it's so much better to go out there risking even getting
knocked out with someone who's willing to fight. It's easier because the fight
can go easy but then it can go difficult. It can go the other way around if I
make a mistake. But someone who really wants it, who's out there to win, will
make it exciting and then it's a lot easier. You'd rather fight those guys
rather than the guys who keep it safe and have a different agenda.”
Early
on, Doniare’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, could tell when it would be one of those
days at the office.
“Just
round after round, I could just see him winning every round and I could see the
frustration in him. But I was like, ‘Hey, if that's the worst thing that ever
happens with Nonito, 12-0,’ I'll take it,” he said. However, at this level,
where you're talked about as one of the sport’s rising stars and perhaps an
heir apparent to Manny Pacquiao’s throne, it's not just enough to win. Style
points matter. “Oh, absolutely, making a great fight and trying to make a good
fight is important,” agreed Dunkin. But it takes two to tango. Great fights
require willing dance partners. “The sad part is, if you get in there with
someone who's not going to engage even though you're trying to engage, you
still get criticized. It's very important to have fun fights.”
In
the late rounds, loud and derisive chants were heard in the arena. The natives
were more than restless- they were bored and angry. It's a good thing none of
them had any rotten vegetables readily available.
Bob
Arum says of that evening, “I was terribly disappointed, absolutely. It was a
horrible fight. [Narvaez] got a lot of money to fight Donaire and he didn't
fight. One guy can't make a fight unless it's a horrible, horrible mismatch or
is a bum. But if you're fighting an experienced fighter and he decides not
to engage you and just runs and runs and runs, it's very hard to do anything
other than what Donaire did.”
Narvaez
is the type of southpaw cutie who, while lacking the firepower or will to
seriously challenge Donaire, is still skilled and crafty enough to survive. The
shame of this fight was that the days leading up to it had amounted to a home
run for Top Rank and Donaire, who was brought specifically to the Big Apple to
meet the press and capitalize on the sizable Filipino-American population in
that region. The promotion was a near sell-out, then came the fight- which was
a dribbler back to the mound.
“But
I don't blame Donaire,” Arum reiterated. “There I blame the fact that...I don't
know if I blame anybody. I mean, this guy had nothing in his background to
suggest that he was anything else other than a fighter and he just got
terrified. That won’t happen with Vazquez because he's a ballsy guy. He fights;
that's all he can do- fight. He engages the opponent so it should be a very,
very interesting fight, so I think we'll see a completely different type of
performance from Donaire.
This
fight is for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title but the real emphasis
was on matching Donaire in a way that he'll be in a crowd-pleasing affair.
“Are
you kidding?!,” asked Arum, equally rhetorically and incredulously, “Of course
that was our first thing- let’s find a guy to fight Donaire who's going to
fight and then we'll see. Absolutely, absolutely we were mortified. We had done
such a great job promoting it. We packed the Theater at the Garden; it was a
great night. We got great publicity and we had a great undercard. Fights were
all exciting; people were really up and everything and then we ended up with a
stinker. Unfortunately, boxing, like everything else, that happens. It happens
in football. It happens in basketball; one team doesn't show up.”
Donaire
says of his Narvaez win, “[it] was just a weird feeling. So I don't really want
to do that all over again. I want to give entertaining fights for my fans and
for boxing.” At age 29, he is now in his physical prime. He's done plenty already
but the truly great ones do more than just pick up a few belts along the way.
They leave us with indelible memories. Donaire seems to comprehend this. “I've
accomplished a lot in my career and it's just more of a thank you to my fans
now. It's more of how I appreciate them because they appreciate me going in
there and working hard and doing my thing. I appreciate them supporting me and
I want go give them a good performance. Like you said, it's not enough to just
win.”
2012
could be the start of something big.
“God-willing
[Donaire] beats Vazquez.We've talked about an [Jorge] Arce fight. We've talked
about [Toshiaki] Nishioka and we've got several fights planned and we also
talked about Nonito at 126, maybe jumping up there too after a couple of those
fights. So he's got a lot of opponents now. He's at a good weight division and
moving to 122, 126, to '30 all in that range, there's going to be a lot of
action for him. He'll have a lot of guys to choose from,” said Dunkin of the
road map laid out for his client.
First
things first, Donaire says he's itching for a fight this weekend. Vazquez just
might be the guy to provide it.
“He
might,” said Donaire, “but once he feels my power, he might go on the defensive
but there's a lot of things that he lacks and there's a lot of things I lack as
well. But I believe he's one of those guys that wants to prove himself to his
father, his country, Puerto Rico. He has the heart and the ability to beat
anybody out there and that's why he's going to go out there and prove himself
and by trying to beat me.
“I
don't see a Narvaez situation with Vazquez.”
UPSET
SPECIAL
I
might as well break this out early; I've looked at the menu for the upcoming
week in San Antonio (where I'm told I have to try the Tex-Mex) and I'm ordering the “upset special.” I like Marco Antonio
Rubio to defeat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the WBC middleweight title on
Saturday night.
Honestly,
once again, I don't know how well Chavez Jr. is prepared for this bout,
physically (as usual). But what I find unusual is that for this camp, he's
basically only going to the Wild Card Boxing Club to work with Freddie Roach on
the days he spars (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). The rest of the time, I'm
told, is spent with Alex Ariza at another gym in Glendale. Who knows what to
make of this?”
I
think Rubio is the toughest test to date for Junior and he is an experienced
veteran who has faced the likes of Kelly Pavlik and has gone on the road in
hostile environments. Rest assured, I think Rubio will be prepared to do the
best of his ability for this contest. I'm not so sure about Chavez Jr. Rubio is
a well-seasoned veteran, who brings some heat with his right hand. Chavez, in
many ways under the safe cocoon of Top Rank, is still relatively untested.
Because
of that, I'll take Rubio in this one.
BREAKING
TRAINING
Let them fight! Let them fight! Let them
fight!...
I don't really support a rematch, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to
reference BNB: Breaking Training.
Warren
Dubya,
I have to say, while nothing is as good as the original “Bad News Bears,” I
have to say that the sequel (“The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training”) was
pretty damn good in its own right. I thought William Devane did a great job in
his role as Kelly Leak's estranged father, who ends up coaching them as they
prepare for their game in the Astrodome (It also helped that it looked like
Devane could play baseball too). I can't lie; every time this movie comes on, I
watch it.
By
the time they did “Bad News Bears Go to Japan,” it had jumped the shark.
FIGHT
OF THEIR LIVES
And
here's an email on the documentary “Fight of Their Lives” that I recently gave
very high accolades:
Hi Steve,
I found your recent thoughts on 'The
Fight of Their Lives' documentary fascinating. My views are quite the opposite
and I felt it was poorly executed. Not withstanding your comments on Emanuel
Steward being ambushed for a his interview, there were many other things that
lessened the quality of the documentary. Most of the interview footage used was
actually from a series of interviews with [Nigel] Benn in 2007, the benefit
night for Gerald [McClellan] was also in 2007, so it's not clear how up to date
some of the interviews are is and what Geralds condition really is now. An important
part of the story omitted is that Gerald was actually making good progress with
his recovery after the emergency operation to remove the blood-clot and was
expected to make a near full recovery (according to the surgeon John Sutcliffe)
but his family wanted to fly him back to the US early, ignoring advice, and
that was one of main factors in the subsequent complications which left him in
the condition he is today. The general tone / angle of the documentary
appeared to be trying too hard apportion blame somewhere (the ref, board of
control, the corners) when sadly it seems a tragedy was almost inevitable given
the choices Gerald made in firing Steward and surrounding himself with people
like Stan Johnson.
It would also be interesting to know
people like Don King are doing for Gerald today...
Thanks and keep up the good work
ADB, London, England
Gotcha,
point taken.
Now,
I've gotten more than a few emails on how to get this documentary. Folks, my
guy, “Trader Tim” sent me the copy that I viewed. I think a link on YouTube was
shut down a while ago. To be honest, I'm not really sure how you guys will be
able to view this until someone puts it up for download or the official DVD is
released.
FINAL
FLURRIES
He's
not great. In fact, he's very flawed but Ji-Hoon Kim (and no, he's not really
my cousin) always makes for great TV, doesn't he?...As for Ruslan Provodnikov,
if Mike Alvarado is going to lead off the April 14th show on HBO (which
might be Brandon Rios vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas),
why not a bout between Provodnikov and “Mile High”?..... I thought “Namath” on
HBO was outstanding. Before his knees got wrecked, “Broadway Joe” could
actually run...The Lakers are just bad but beyond that, they are boring as can
be...
