Donaire to undergo surgery

MANILA, Philippines - Former world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. will take time off from the ring and await the birth of his baby boy, to be named Jarel, on July 21. While on boxing leave, he is expected to undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right shoulder – an injury he endured in his last three fights including the loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux in New York City last Saturday.

Donaire, his wife Rachel and mother-in-law Becky Marcial flew out of New York City the morning after the fight and arrived Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, where they reside. There was no need for Donaire to be checked in the hospital after his defeat by unanimous decision to Rigondeaux. He suffered no cuts and the most serious damage was a blackened swelling under the right eye caused by a sharp left straight early in the 12th round that for a while, resulted in double vision.

A source close to Donaire said he will decide when and where to undergo the operation as soon as certain issues are cleared, including medical insurance, therapy program and doctors availability. Donaire is also considering a short trip to Manila before or after the surgery. “The doctors whom Nonito is close to are in the Bay Area but he’ll probably do therapy in Las Vegas,” said the source. “A possibility is to do the operation in Las Vegas so the surgeon is able to closely monitor the rehab.”

Rachel’s absence in Donaire’s training camp at the Undisputed Gym in San Carlos City, a suburb of San Francisco, was a noticeable vacuum. It was the first time she couldn’t be with Donaire in a camp for a big fight. “Because of her pregnancy, Rachel was advised to stay at home in Las Vegas as much as possible so Nonito would fly over to visit every weekend during camp for about two months,” said the source. “Next time, Nonito mentioned he’ll rent a house near the gym so Rachel is close by. But by then, their baby will be born.”

Another issue that Donaire faced in training camp was holding his weight down to the superbantamweight limit of 122 pounds. “It’s gotten harder to bring down his weight to 122,” said the source. “His muscles are getting bigger, his body is maturing. It could be time to move up to 126 pounds.” Donaire weighed in at 121.6 pounds the day before the fight but scaled 129 when he entered the ring. The weight reduction could’ve sapped out Donaire who was a step or two slow in pursuing the cat-quick Rigondeaux.

“Nonito had four fights last year and probably needed more time to rest,” said the source. “I think he pushed himself too far. Then, he kept his shoulder injury a secret.”

Donaire’s training camp was also rocked by the sudden exit of his conditioning coaches Victor Conte and Remi Korchemny who’d worked with him in his last eight fights dating back to the knockout over Hernan (Tyson) Marquez in 2010. Conte provided Donaire with hypoxic training support and nutritional supplements while Korchemny, a Ukrainian sprint coach, mapped out his workout regimen.

While Rigondeaux gained the decision, he wasn’t a popular winner. “It was a boring fight,” said the source. “Before the fight, Rigondeaux promised to go toe-to-toe but he didn’t engage. He ran away all night.”

The three judges saw it Rigondeaux’s way with Julie Lederman scoring 116-111, Tom Schreck 115-112 and John Stewart 114-113. There was only one knockdown in the fight with Rigondeaux taking an eight-count from a left by Donaire in the 10th. In Stewart’s scorecard, Donaire won the fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth and 10th rounds. He had it dead even, 104-all, at the end of 11 rounds and awarded the final stanza to Rigondeaux. Both Lederman and Schreck saw it 96-93 for Rigondeaux after 10 rounds so even if Donaire swept the last two cantos, he would’ve still been outpointed.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated said despite the setback, Donaire remains a more marketable fighter than the Cuban. “Rigondeaux’s technically proficient performance wasn’t television friendly,” wrote Mannix. “After the fight, Rigondeaux told ringside reporters he had no intention of changing his style. Unfortunately, that may cost him a premium network check.”

In contrast, Mannix said Donaire “is still an entertaining, popular fighter who will have HBO’s backing no matter where he fights.” Mannix said Donaire seems to be headed for the featherweight division where there are appealing options with future opponents like unbeaten WBA champion Chris John of Indonesia, IBF titlist Evgency Gradovich of Russia, Juan Manuel Lopez whose stoppage victims include Filipinos Gerry Peñalosa and Bernabe Concepcion and Orlando Salido. WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia, however, is not an option as his older brother Robert is Donaire’s chief trainer.

Donaire said if Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and his manager Cameron Dunkin can arrange a rematch with Rigondeaux, he’ll postpone his move to the featherweight ranks for the change to avenge his defeat.