NONITO DONAIRE SR. TALKS ABOUT MARVIN SONSONA
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 28 Jul 2009
It was a pleasant surprise to hear from one of the top, if not the very best boxing trainer from the Philippines nowadays, Nonito Donaire, Sr.
“I am here up north and I thought I would call and say hello and goodbye as I am about to return to Cebu to work with Team Sonsona. We haven’t talk for a while and I know we need to catch up,” Donaire said.
Donaire also indicated that he read our article posted on this site yesterday regarding our concern and comments about one of the fastest rising stars in Philippine boxing, Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona. Sonsona is scheduled to challenge Jose “Carita” Lopez for the WBO Super flyweight title in September in Ontario, Canada.
“I feel honored and humbled by the fact that Team Sonsona, particularly promoter Sam Gello-ani wanted me to be part of their team. Modesty aside, I feel that is a vindication of my performance in the past that made me produce a world champion,” Donaire said.
“I seriously think given the proper leeway, I can truly help Sonsona triumph over Carita Lopez and bring home a world title,” Donaire added.
Donaire mentioned that he has seen films of Lopez’ fights and have found flaws which they can take advantage of. “His defense is not really top notch and he has a tendency to slack during a fight. The fact that he is 37 years old maybe a plus for us, but we also have to watch out because he is experienced.”
He further said that after viewing the films, he formulated a game plan for Sonsona to follow and master beginning on the first day of their training sometime next week.
When reminded about our concerns regarding his lack of fight experience beyond round 5 thus his stamina may be suspect, Donaire assured me that the training regimen he designed and formulated will address that issue.
“Come fight day, we will be ready to go the full 12 rounds plus some. I will personally take control of his strength and conditioning and we have people on the Team who can give us a hand on nutrition.”
“He will have to do a lot of running on flat lands and hills around Cebu and will have to do other exercises more than he ever did.”
“We will not leave anything to chance or even luck. In fact, we even had a custom made mouthguard for him. Hopefully it will function as well as the ones you make.”
“We will make sure we are more than 100% come fight day because this is a very important fight for Sonsona and the rest of the Team. Needless to say, his victory will raise everybody’s stock, so we will be focused to the tasks ahead.”
We also talked about the weather in Canada during September which can sometimes be a bit chilly even to the most hardened Canadians. “Oh I was assured by Sammy that Team Sonsona will be in Canada at least two weeks before the fight to acclimatize. Hopefully, that would be enough for the kid to get used to the weather and the glamour of big cities like Toronto.”
Donaire also briefly mentioned that his son Glenn is on the road back. “He started training and before long, he will be fighting again," he said.
Donaire also said that the fight of Ana Julaton scheduled at the Agua Caliente Casino this Saturday has been called off and possibly moved to September.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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