Counter Punch

by France Pinzon

MAIN EVENTS INVOLVE SPECIAL ADMISSIONS, HIGH STAKES AND A LOT OF MEDIA ATTENTION. NONITO DONAIRE SR. TELLS US WHY GETTING THE PINK SLIP IS QUITE THE SIMILAR AFFAIR.

After enduring a cold cyber-blow to the gut (translation: getting sacked from one’s job as a world boxing champion’s father-trainer via Internet news), Nonito “Dodong” Donaire Sr. got right back to business, leading two budding Filipino boxers to score upset wins over much favored opponents–one with 19-year-old Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona, who beat Puerto Rican Jose Lopez for the WBO super flyweight title, and another with Ana “Hurricane” Julaton, who won over American Kelsey Jeffries in the IBA super bantamweight division-all of which happened last September. (As of press time, Sonsona had just lost his title to Mexican Alejandro Hernandez in Canada last November 21, after going over the weight limit , while Julaton had kept her belt, winning against American Donna Biggers last December in San Jose, CA.)

Despite those post-firing events appearing to be a mild case of poetic justice, the 50-year old South Cotabato native didn’t have any plans on proving anything to his superstar son, whom he’d read on the Web was “looking for a new trainer” just days before his WBA super flyweight title match against Rafael Concepcion of Panama last August. “I don’t have any problems with my son, I really love and care for him.”

Such a response only reveals a fraction of the type of relationship the two share with each other. “He was a very nice kid, very respectful and energetic. He would always beat me in basketball and baseball,” the older Nonito recalls of the younger’s childhood.

The older didn’t quite have similar me-and-my-dad days while growing up in the province. (His father Teodorico died when he was just three.) After finishing grade school in Polonuling Elementary School in Puli, South Cotabato, then-young Dodong, his mother Rosario and sister Amparo all moved to General Santos City, where he was forced to work as a child, carrying sacks of rice and cement in exchange for less than 10 centavos per bag delivered. He was also unable to finish his education.

With a lot of things not going his way, the high school dropout enlisted himself as a Third Class Trainee in the Philippine Army, where he would soon get into amateur boxing and then meet his very first student: himself. (“I had to practice on my own since there were no boxing trainers available in the camp.”)

Donaire Sr. during his stint with the Philippine Army

Nonito Jr.’s adolescence involved neither military service nor Gensan Makar Wharf manual labor. By the age of seven, his father, being part-Hawaiian, had moved to the United States and the whole family (including mother Imelda and siblings Glenn, Rochelle and Lucky) eventually followed within the next three years. In 1994, to protect his children from gang recruitment, Nonito Sr. decided to get them into combative sports. Soon after, Jun-jun, who was training in karate then, would find himself in a sort-of sibling rivalry with his older brother Glenn, who at that time had begun bringing home trophies from boxing competitions under the father’s coaching. Feeling the need to match up to his brother’s amateur success, Jun joined the tandem and, in just 45 days, began competing like Glenn.

As the boys’ father-trainer, Dodong claims to have applied the semi-authoritarian method (“I made jokes with them, but I never babied them.”) “If I didn’t train them hard, you wouldn’t see where Nonito Jr. is right now.”

Dodong, with sons Glenn and Nonito Jr.

But as many a teacher has experienced, the student eventually surpassed expectations and became bigger than his mentor. In any case, a simple need for personal space could be reason enough for one bitter separation.

“Right now we have not had any communication since his second title defense against Mthalane [last August],” Dodong admits. “I lost my job, our health benefits and my retirement because of this.”

Distress over the fallout has been obvious as the older Donaire shares his sentiments. “Everybody worked hard for him because he had the potential to be a world champion. Now, even his Mom, who is jobless right now, is worried about getting evicted from the apartment [in San Leandro, California] where she is staying with Glenn [who works for Red Ribbon as a truck driver],” he says of Junior, who now resides in San Mateo, California with Fil-Am wife Rachel, a former United States taekwondo champion. Likewise, Dodong realizes that his plan of settling down for good in order to relax and nurse a bad back, which came from his many years of working, is not going to happen any time soon.

When someone takes a good beating, his immediate reaction is to strike back. But in Nonito Sr.’s case, we realize that it’s never really the ideal automatic response.

At the moment, the now-Cebu resident busies himself in training Sonsona and Julaton, as well as arranging matches for his prized fighters. (“I am trying to get Ana to fight here in the Philippines.”)

Any other prospects? “I have Jundy Maraon, number seven in the WBO category, who has a bout on December 19. I also have Ciso Morales.” (who just defeated Mexican Miguel Piedras and is scheduled to go up against Fernando Montiel this February.)

His dream bout? “Sonsona against [Vic] Darchinyan, I know we can beat him.”

The world boxing champion Donaire didn’t know anything about the celebrated sport until his father/ mentor/ trainer became all those things all at once. “I always told him, ‘Don’t forget where we came from; be humble.’ When he’s in the ring I always told him to be smart and to not get hit too much.”

As Nonito Jr. fights another fight and his father trains another possible up-and-comer, spectators carry on with their speculations: That the younger Donaire will continue to win more titles and eventually become the next Manny Pacquiao, while the older one goes on developing future contenders in the coming months, but eventually retires due to the emergence of more known training camps.

Like every underdog down the homestretch of a main event, he is bound to find his second wind while the opponent rests on his laurels, and then deliver the sensational game-finisher just when the crowd thought it’s long been a unanimous win.

“I’ve always been underestimated by everybody,” Nonito Sr. professes with much conviction. “Until I made a champion.”

Nonito Donaire Jr. is set to fight Mexican boxer Gerson Guerrero on February 13, 2010, at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada.