Donaire endures pain for big win

MANILA, Philippines - It was a well-kept secret that about a month before WBO superbantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. faced Japanese challenger Toshiaki Nishioka in Carson, California, last Saturday night, the Filipino Flash had reinjured his left hand in a sparring session.

Donaire, however, refused to postpone the fight and prayed the injury would heal after skipping two weeks of sparring. But in the dressing room punching mitts with trainer Robert Garcia only minutes before entering the ring to battle Nishioka, Donaire felt the wound was reopened.

Throughout the bout, Donaire fought with a bleeding cut on his left hand. After he floored Nishioka with a left uppercut in the sixth round, the pain became nearly unbearable. “It stretched open,” said Donaire in a STAR interview yesterday. “The gameplan for the fight was to use the right hand all along. But I used my left to drop him in the sixth. I waited for the opening so I could hit him with my right straight and it came in the ninth.”

Donaire said the cut was sewn up with eight to 11 stitches after the fight. The cut extended from the first knuckle to the middle knuckle across the left hand. “You could see the raw tendon because the skin was ripped open,” said Donaire. “Fortunately, there is no fracture. It’s all bandanged now but I’m not supposed to move it.” Donaire’s schedule for his next fight will depend on the healing process.

The hand was injured for the first time during Donaire’s win over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in San Antonio last February. When Donaire took his left hand out of the glove after the fight, the wraps were stained with blood. It was the same after the Nishioka bout but the stain was not as widespread. The injury made Donaire’s win even more impressive as he withstood the pain to hack out the gutsy victory punctuated by two knockdowns.

Regarding the Nishioka bout, Donaire said he was in total control and command from the start. In the seventh round, he complained to referee Raul Caiz Sr. of a headbutt and momentarily, stopped fighting. Nishioka, like a true sportsman, did not take advantage of Donaire dropping his guard to talk to Caiz. Nishioka showed too much respect for Donaire’s skill and power, fighting defensively most of the way. He looked to land one big shot but the Filipino Flash wouldn’t oblige with an opening.

Donaire slept only an hour from when the fight ended and yesterday at 6 p.m. (Los Angeles time), he was on the way to make an appearance in the premier of his movie debut “Palad Ta Ang Nagbuot” (“Fate Will Decide”), a Visayan indie film with English sub-titles. The film was shown at the Envision Center on Oxnard Street, Van Nuys, with VIP admission tickets at $25 each and regular admission $15. The movie is a remake of the 1969 version starring the late world junior lightweight boxing champion Flash Elorde and Gloria Sevilla.

In the new film, Sevilla reappears as Lola Angeling with Donaire as Dodong Valderama and Krissel Valdez as Inday. The highlight of the movie is Valderama meeting Dagul de Leon, portrayed by Mon Confiado, in a boxing match. Leroy Salvador was the director of the original movie while Sevilla’s son Dandin Ranillo is the director of the current version.

Donaire flew to Manila from the US to film the movie last July. The shoot took a week to finish. The movie was premiered in Vallejo two weeks back. It will be premiered in Redwood City in northern California tomorrow. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum referred to Donaire as a movie star when interviewed by former world champion Carlos Palomino in the ring for HBO TV after beating Nishioka.

Donaire will be interviewed in a Los Angeles morning TV show before leaving for Las Vegas today. The champion and wife Rachel plan to be in Manila this weekend. Donaire has agreed to join the TV commentary panel for the WBO bantamweight title fight between A. J. Banal and Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.