Nonito Donaire stands as his own man on first Pacquiao card

MANILA, Philippines – Over the course of Nonito Donaire Jr’s 15-year long boxing career, the boxer known as “The Filipino Flash” has won world titles in 4 different divisions, been named Fighter of the Year (2012) by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and carved out an almost certain Hall of Fame career. Up until now, one thing he hasn’t done yet is fight on the undercard of a Manny Pacquiao event.

Donaire will finally get to cross that off his to-do list on November 5 when he makes his mandatory defense of the WBO junior featherweight title against Jessie Magdaleno, an undefeated but untested southpaw underneath the Pacquiao vs Jessie Vargas WBO welterweight title fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. It’s long been one of those questions, with many wondering why the second Filipino boxer to ever win titles in more than two weight classes had never fought on the undercard of the most famous Filipino athlete ever.

After all, Donaire says he first signed with Top Rank in 2008 under the presumption that he’d be featured underneath Pacquiao’s fights and be exposed to his Filipino fanbase. It’d seem a natural pairing, so why hadn’t it happened until now?

Donaire says he’d been told by Pacquiao that it would happen, but that his fights were “blocked” by Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz for one reason or another. The only reason it’s finally happening, Donaire says, is because Top Rank owed him another fight this year and had no other suitable cards to put him on.

“I asked [Pacquiao] personally a few years ago and he agreed, but somehow some way it never happened. It’s definitely someone in the camp that’s not making it happen for me,” said Donaire (37-3, 24 knockouts).

“It’s always been blocked by Koncz, always been blocked by Manny’s people. That’s pretty much what it all comes down to.”

But why? Koncz had previously opposed Donaire fighting on the Pacquiao vs Chris Algieri card in Macau in 2014, saying Donaire’s fights were “not going to generate any actual additional income” on a Pacquiao card. Donaire offered another explanation. “I know that in the past [MP Promotions] wanted to sign me but I refused to sign with them and I guess that’s the reason why they never put me on their cards.”

Koncz, for his part, tells Rappler in an email that Donaire is “a want to be star…making unfound (sic) accusations of something he has no personal knowledge of or knows nothing about.” He also voiced displeasure in Donaire’s recent remarks to FightHype criticizing the Philippine senator’s performance as a politician.

“Rather than criticizing the senator, he should be great full (sic) that he was allowed to fight on our under card as he can not even sell out The Theater in New York Madison Square Garden,” added Koncz.

In hindsight, Donaire says having to make his own way without Pacquiao’s endorsement has been a blessing in disguise. Donaire, who was born in Talibon, Bohol, Philippines but grew up in California’s Bay Area since age 11, has built an identity of his own. Though not the cultural icon Pacquiao is in his home country, he’s at least cheered for by most. He’s surrounded himself with Filipino-American celebrities who fit his hip image, like DJ Qbert and WWE wrestler Dave Bautista, and for his last fight, a third-round knockout of Zsolt Bedak in Cebu City, had a stunt double thrill the crowd by breakdancing in the ring before his entrance.

For all the ups-and-downs Donaire has been through in recent years, he can say he’s his own man, for better or worse.

“I’m grateful for not being on that card now because I was able to create myself. I was able to become Fighter of the Year. I was able to create all that achievements that I’ve had in the past because of the fact I was able to make it happen,” said Donaire.

“That’s why I make it a priority to help everyone all the Filipinos. When [Donnie] Nietes or the [Pagara brothers Albert and Jason] fight, I always make it a point to support them because I know how it felt not being supported.”

‘More masterful in the ring’

Donaire, now 33, is rebuilding his standing in the sport in his second reign as a 122-pound titleholder. His rise as the next breakout star in boxing was halted by a 2013 loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux just days after accepting the Fighter of the Year award, and a 2014 knockout loss to the larger Nicholas Walters. Donaire had to walk through fire a year ago against the ultra-tough Cesar Juarez to win the title stripped from Rigondeaux and knocked out the overmatched Bedak in April in his first defense.

(READ: Pacquiao continues to fight because that’s what Pacquiao does)

The Magdaleno fight will be his first in the continental United States since the Walters fight. He hopes an impressive win over the Vegas-based Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs) gets him back on the premium networks like HBO, on which he fought 10 straight fights from 2011-2014. Magdaleno, 24, is no slouch, and has a counter-punching style which isn’t unlike Rigondeaux’s.

“They’ll come knocking,” Donaire says.

Donaire will have a new trainer in his corner for this fight. Ismael Salas, a Cuban who has worked with Rigondeaux, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and most interestingly Magdaleno, took over for Donaire’s father Nonito Donaire Sr after they split amicably because the younger Donaire didn’t want to leave his family behind in Las Vegas to train in California, where Donaire Sr still lives.

“Now I’m more composed. When you see this fight, I’m more masterful in the ring now. [Salas] taught me to be masterful inside the ring. I’m gonna see a lot more explosive knockouts,” said Donaire.

With Pacquiao in the main event, Donaire will be under increased scrutiny from Filipinos as the country’s two best fighters of this era share a bill. Donaire says he is not concerned with outshining anyone on the card other than his opponent. He’s got his own race to run.

“I’m not here to compete with no one except for the person inside of that ring,” said Donaire. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanSongalia.