DONAIRE'S WEIGHT RAISES SOME CONCERN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 22 Oct 2011
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The weight of WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire raised some concern especially among the Filipino and Filipino-American media when he tipped the scales at 116 1/4 pounds which was well below the 118 pound limit.
Donaire looked gaunt as he stepped on the scales at the Affinia Hotel where the weigh-in for tomorrow night's battle of champions was held under the supervision of Melvina Latham, head of the New York State Athletic Commission.
Also present were WBC supervisor Bill Dwyre who stepped in for Ramon Garcia who failed to show up and WBO supervisor Richard Decuir.
Omar Narvaez, the two division WBO champion tipped the scales at 117 pounds and looked in great shape with no signs of having problems with his weight.
The title fight at the Theater of New York's famed Madison Square Garden will be telecast at 10:00 a.m. Sunday over ABS-CBN Channel 2 as well as The Filipino Channel.
Donaire who worked out at the Afiinia Hotel Gym last night was reportedly six pounds over the limit and his coming in 1 3/4 pounds below the bantamweight limit was a major surprise to several boxing writers who were at the weigh-in.
However, trainer Robert Garcia assured us there was nothing to worry about. He said "he went in there and tried to loosen up a little and he didn't have too much water and more than enough came out."
Garcia said Donaire had to lose a couple of pounds one hour before the 3:00 p.m. weigh in.
Garcia said "it was not because he over-trained or anything. Before we came here we weighed him and he was about a pound and a half over so he started shadow boxing and started sweating a little more than he was supposed to about an hour before the weigh in."
Asked whether he had any concerns about Donaire's weight Garcia replied "not at all, not at all. This was the first time out there, he was resting all day and it was just a 15 minute shadow boxing and all that but it was no big deal."
Garcia said the plan is definitely for Donaire to move up to super bantamweight after the Narvaez fight "not only because he does have a hard time making weight but of course we can't look past Narvaez. He is a tremendous champion and a great fighter."
He said the plans are to go to 122 and "eventually to end up as a featherweight sometime next year."
Garcia noted that the undefeated southpaw Narvaez "is in shape. He looked sharp, he looks good and he's an experienced fighter with many world title fights."
Donaire's trainer noted that Narvaez broke Carlos Monzon's record in Argentina with 16 title defenses so that itself tells you a lot. We know we are in a fight."
Garcia agreed that while Narvaez hadn't beaten any big name fighters "he has beaten some good fighters. I have seen his fights, he has beaten them and he's got the experience. "
He said Narvaez "does it in a way that a lot of fans might not like because he doesn't have the knockout. But he has the experience and makes the fights go to the later rounds and wins the rounds. He is undefeated and knows how to win."
Photo: Nonito Donaire Jr (L) and Omar Andres Narvaez pose during today's weighin at the Affinia Hotel in New York. Photo by Rob Cruz.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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