Donaire getting impatient?

With no clear picture as to whom he’s fighting next, former IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. may be getting impatient – if not exasperated as his career continues to show slow progress with the lack of big-name opponents.

This year, Donaire has so far disposed of Martin Vargas and Hernan Marquez, a pair of Mexican journeymen who were clearly not in the Filipino Flash’s class. He’s relinquishing his interim WBA superflyweight title to campaign in the bantamweight ranks because it’s been increasingly difficult to hold down the weight of his evolving 27-year-old body. As nature takes its course, Donaire’s physique is maturing. He has outgrown the superflyweight class and the General Santos City fighter is ready to advance to the next level.

The reluctance of world titleholders Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel to face Donaire has stalled his campaign for more belts. Donaire said he leaves his fate to manager Cameron Dunkin and promoter Top Rank. But if Top Rank can’t seem to find worthy and marquee opponents, should Donaire look elsewhere for options?

The Ring Magazine editor-in-chief Nigel Collins noticed how Donaire’s career hasn’t taken off despite the fighter being ranked No. 4 in the publication’s world pound-for-pound ladder behind Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez. Donaire is rated higher than Sugar Shane Mosley, Chad Dawson, Paul Williams, Sergio Msrtinez, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Celestino Caballero who complete the top 10 cast.

“Jeers to whomever is responsible for allowing the careers of Nonito Donaire, Celestino Caballero and Sakio Bika to wither on the vine,” wrote Collins. Because marquee fighters are avoiding him, Donaire has lately feasted on inferior foes, prompting The Ring Magazine’s William Dettloff to comment, “Donaire is an excellent fighter with an exciting style but struggles to fill a casino ballroom for his fights.” Dettloff should realize that if ever Montiel agrees to face Donaire, fans will come out in droves. The problem isn’t Donaire – it’s his promoter’s failure to provide credible opposition.

It’s interesting that Collins took an indirect potshot at Top Rank for allowing Donaire’s career “to wither on the vine.” The Ring Magazine, in case you didn’t know, is owned by Golden Boy – Top Rank’s fiercest rival for supremacy in the fight game today. Could it be that Golden Boy will soon make a play for Donaire’s contract?

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The PBA’s legendary Triggerman will personally conduct a four-Saturday shooting camp for players from 10 to 18 years old starting Aug. 14 at the Green Meadows Gym.

Each session will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Allan Caidic is making himself available to all campers. Up to 80 entries will be accommodated to assure personalized training. More than 80 would be unwieldy for Caidic to supervise each shooting station.

“The long wait is finally over,” said Reli de Leon who’s organizing the camp. “For two years, Accel sponsored a three-point shooting contest for Allan to manage. Now, it’s time for Allan to teach the finer points of shooting. He’ll share his trade secrets, the drills that polished his stroke. In the NBA, there are shooting coaches like Chip Engelland, Craig Hodges and Dennis Scott. Allan is in their class. As a shooting coach, Allan can make better shooters of high school players and even senior players who are 18 or below. The camp is open to anyone in the 10-18 age bracket, regardless of whether they play for a school or not.”

The camp is sponsored by Accel, Ginebra San Miguel, Magnolia water, media.com and Purefoods. For details, call 0917-8168675.

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A new school-based league will soon be launched. It’s called the B-League – the brainchild of organizers Reli de Leon, Perry Mariano and Sebastian Chua, among others.

The B-League is all about billiards. As envisioned, it will enlist nine to 12 schools to compete in the junior (high school) and senior (undergraduate) divisions just like in the UAAP and NCAA. So far, the organizers claim at least six schools are sure to join.

The venue of the eliminations will be the 70-table Star Billiards Hall on Araneta Avenue. The finals will be held in a popular mall. The season will be from November to March. Buses will be provided to pick up the players from their schools and bring them to the Araneta Avenue facility.

“We hope to build a future crop of billiards stars to take over from Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante,” said De Leon. “We want to promote billiards as a varsity sport and encourage schools to provide athletic scholarships to outstanding billiards players. This sport isn’t just for out-of-school youth. We want to give respectability to billiards which has given the country a lot of honor and pride through our stars like Bata, Django, Amang Parica, Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcullo, Roberto Gomez and many others.”