Donaire in ‘must-win’ fight against Vetyeka

The 31-year-old Filipino-American from San Leandro, California is fighting for more than the championship belt which the South African Vetyeka wears around his waist. At stake is his very relevance, the hope of keeping his once-skyrocketing appeal on life support, if not resurrecting it all together.

It was hard to fathom Donaire being in such a position just a little over a year after accepting the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Fighter of the Year award for 2012, after he cleaned out the junior featherweight division. 

Save for Guillermo Rigondeaux. 

Now Donaire, who once seemed too strong, too fast and too explosive for every man he stepped in the ring against has been shown to be mortal and fallible. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then Donaire has made the sanest of decisions in reverting to his father Nonito Sr as head trainer. 

Robert Garcia, the 2012 BWAA Trainer of the Year, will still work Donaire’s corner on fight night but as second assistant.

The two Donaires have spent their whole training camp in the Philippines, splitting time between the ALA Gym in Cebu and the Elorde Boxing Gym in Parañaque preparing for their 33-year-old foe, who holds his belt by virtue of ending Chris John’s decade long reign atop the featherweight division in December.

There have been growing pains in rekindling this once strained relationship that fell apart for several years due to an acrimonious family feud as Donaire’s rise to prominence began to gather speed. Their first fight together – the rematch with Vic Darchinyan last November – was an uneven performance where Donaire suffered a broken cheekbone and was behind on the cards before bailing himself out with a one punch left hook knockout. 

But Donaire Sr, a former military man from General Santos City, says all is well now and their chemistry will show up in the fight.

“He was so happy, he was always smiling every time we train together just like before,” said Donaire Sr. “He knows my voice, so we have our communication already. Just to look at him, we can see the body language. We have like, it’s like we’re synchronized, like one mind.”

Donaire Sr says the first order of business has been guiding his son back to the versatile style that initially brought him success as a flyweight. Donaire Jr has called in love with his power in recent years, he says, with his signature left hook becoming more predictable and inefficient as a result.

“Actually when we started he had a good overhand; most of the boxers he’d hit them with the overhand and then come back with the hook. We’re not relying on one punch. We need speed, a longer jab and the movement.”

Relying on landing one big shot at a time would play into Vetyeka’s hands, as his awkward, mobile style is engineered to take advantage of one-dimensional fighters who fall into such patterns.

“That’s why I told Nonito don’t go for a one punch knockout because Vetyeka is a mover, he moves side to side, we have a game plan for this fight.”

“I know Nonito is going to do this because I thought Vetyeka is a little bit longer and bigger but when I saw him today, Nonito is much bigger with a wider body.”

A win is vital not just for Donaire and Co., but for Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. This fight will be the first show without Zou Shiming, the Chinese two-time Olympic gold medalist without whom Macau would never have gotten into the business.

With Shiming’s long-term future far from guaranteed and the 35-year-old Manny Pacquiao winding his career down, having a marketable, marquee-quality Asian boxer like Donaire in good standing would be crucial as Top Rank taps new markets in its war against rivals Golden Boy Promotions. 

Having Donaire reborn at 126 would make life easier for Arum, as he controls IBF titleholder Evgeny Gradovich and WBA “regular” titleholder Nicholas Walters, both of whom will fight on this fight’s undercard dubbed “Featherweight Fury.”

Walters (23-0, 19 KOs) of Jamaica, who fights former Donaire foe Darchinyan on Saturday, is already looking towards a possible clash with the winner of the Vetyeka-Donaire fight.

“If the winner between Nonito and Vetyeka, if that’s the fight that comes next, I’d be glad to defend my title against whoever wins that fight,” said Walters. “If you’re going to say you’re the top featherweight of the world you have to fight the best.”

If there’s one lesson Donaire has learned, it’s that nothing is a given inside those ropes.

“Vetyeka is a very smart and has power, so that will be a very entertaining fight,” said Donaire. “I, as well, have speed and power. It’ll be a clash between two overall fighters, it can end in any round between the both of us.” – Rappler.com