DONAIRE CONFIDENT HE'S BETTER THAN NISHIOKA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 11 Oct 2012
Manhattan Beach, CA - October 10, 2012 -- WBO/IBF super bantamweight champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire is confident that he is better than WBC champion emeritus Toshiaki Nishioka who he will face for the coveted World Boxing Council Diamond Belt at the Home Depot Center in Carson City, California on Sunday Manila Time in a fight to be telecast by ABS-CBN Channel 2 at 10:15 a.m.
At a media workout at the Justin Fortune Gym in Los Angeles, Donaire told the Manila Standard "I am confident that I am better than him, much faster and punch harder although he too is strong. But with power its always dangerous."
Donaire said he "expects a very tactical fight anchored on speed and power. We both have power and we both have speed It (the fight) can end at the earliest in the first round or when the last bell of the 12th round sounds."
The four division world champion conceded that they "look for a knockout for the fans but for this fight I took all that out." To Donaire the goal is simple. He said "I need to win. It's not an experiment of a fight anymore its a fight that I want to win."
He conceded that "it's always complicated to fight guys who are southpaws but we are ready for anything, that's why we trained very hard," pointing out that he recruited sparring partners "who could emulate speed and power like Nishioka."
Donaire revealed "we are very in-tune and focused. If I get to see that opportunity to switch to a southpaw then I will, but again its a fight that I cant take risks."
In Nishioka, the classy Japanese southpaw, Donaire said he "got the guy that I need to beat in this fight. That was my goal for this weight class. Whoever comes up doesnt matter to me. Bring them all on."
He downplayed the one year layoff of Nishioka since his unanimous decision win over Mexican Rafael Marquez saying "one year's absence may make a slight difference but being a veteran its easy to shake that off after a couple of minutes in the rounds."
While he desires to entertain the fans Donaire made it clear that Nishioka "is not a fighter we'll take lightly. We are taking everything that we can, we are creating everything we can and not get careless. It's a battle of skills, a battle of strategy, a battle of speed and maybe power."
He promised to turn into "the old Donaire with intelligent style, quick movement, strong punches and very unpredictable. We have studied his style and my power could come in the form of an uppercut, a straight an overhead. Anyting that can hurt."
Donaire's top class trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia told us "Nonito is coming along very well. He always prepares himself very well. He's very smart in the ring. He is a fighter that I don't worry about too much because I know he's dedicated and he's so talented inside the ring that he is going to come out and perform."
However, Garcia cautioned that "we are against the best super bantamweight in the world. I consider Nishioka our biggest threat but Nonito is just so talented and so smart in the ring that he'll come out and do his job."
The trainer indicated they have to "watch out for Nishioka's straight left and its always a very dangerous punch and Nisioka is experienced and he's got nothing to lose. He's going to come out very confident to throw those punches but we are ready for that. He (Donaire) worked on counter-punching and landing three-four punch combinations which is what we always wanted. He came to realize thats what he needs and I'm very pleased with that."
He said Donaire "could have a war against Nishioka. We are prepared for whatever it is. Nonito is prepared to fight smart, make him miss and hit three-four punch combinations and it could turn out to be a war and he's ready for that."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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