Golden Boy Promotions today announced that it had signed Filipino bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire to its fold. The Filipino-American boxer had climbed up the pound-for-pound rankings with very impressive victories over Wladimir Sidorenko and Fernando Montiel, and his star has never been brighter.

But the move does not figure to go smoothly for Donaire. Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Promotions that previously handled the fighter’s career, claims that Donaire still has a live contract with the company, and will be filing a suit against Golden Boy.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire signs with Golden Boy; Top Rank Promotions to sue over contract"

Boxing enthusiast and former Cotabato governor Manny Piñol was among the members of the media that Nonito Donaire included in his Facebook tirade yesterday. Shortly after I posted the last piece about Donaire’s online fight against Chino Trinidad, someone on Twitter pointed me to a very interesting piece by Piñol on PhilBoxing.com:

By the way, just a friendly advice and this will be good for your health and well-being: Do not threaten me or other media people with your Sonic-Boom punch that knocked out Fernando Montiel. You could get into legal troubles with that statement in the Philippines. You could get sued for grave threats and that is a crime.

Also, do not brag about you Sonic-Boom punch. Remember this: a bullet travels faster than a punch.

Holy crap, that certainly sounded like a threat. At least, Nonito treated it like one:

Continue reading "Wait, did Manny Piñol just threaten to shoot Nonito Donaire over his Facebook tirade?"

There was a big fight on the social networks this weekend between Filipino sports personalities, and for once, I wasn’t involved in it. World champion Nonito Donaire and GMA-7 sports reporter Chino Trinidad got into an Internet fight that quickly turned very, very ugly.

Some context: throughout the whole Donaire family drama involving Nonito Jr. and his parents, Chino has been critical of the fighter for not patching things up with his family, a position he shares with his father, Inquirer columnist Recah Trinidad, who has written a number of articles on the matter. In one of Chino’s posts on Facebook, Nonito’s father-in-law also got into a tiff with the former PBL commissioner.

Continue reading "Chino Trinidad, Nonito Donaire trade barbs"

Fire Quinito rounds up all the must-read links about Nonito Donaire’s sensational win over Fernando Montiel, so you can have more time to marvel at Maria Aragon’s angelic voice.



Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports: “One long-time occupant of the top spot in boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound list said he believes a pair of Filipinos should sit atop the current rankings. But former champion Roy Jones Jr. said he’s not sure if it’s Manny Pacquiao or his countryman, Nonito Donaire Jr., who should be ranked first now. ‘I saw this kid on TV a couple of years ago and I picked him out then,’ said Jones, the long-time pound-for-pound who served as a color analyst for HBO on Saturday. ‘To be honest with you, there’s an argument whether he’s No. 1 or No. 2. I see (Donaire) doing things I don’t see many fighters do. He uses his feet first and his hands second.’”

Continue reading "Boxing mop-up: Nonito Donaire is the new crown prince of the cruelest sport"

‘The Filipino Flash’ Nonito Donaire scored a spectacular knockout over fellow top 10 pound-for-pound fighter Fernando Montiel this morning, cementing his spot as one of the very best fighters in the world. It was Donaire’s 25th straight victory and his 10th knockout in his last 12 fights. The left hook which sent the Mexican champion reeling on the canvas was reminiscent of Donaire’s star-making stoppage of Vic Darchinyan in 2007.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire knocks the fuck out of bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel"

This hasn’t gotten much play in local media yet, but a very curious item involving Nonito Donaire caught my eye last week. BoxingScene.com reports allegations made by his wife Rachel that Manny Pacquiao’s management team does not want Donaire to appear in cards featuring the pound-for-pound king. Rachel says Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz had called Top Rank, which promotes both fighters, to make sure that Donaire did not appear in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Margarito fight last November.

“I know for a fact that the November fight, Koncz called in and asked them to take him off the card,” Rachel said. “From what I heard it's Michael Koncz doing all the dealings because Nonito is not with MP Promotions and he doesn't want him on the cards.”

My curiosity was piqued because just recently, I was speaking to a boxing insider who was telling me that he felt that Manny Pacquiao did not exactly like Nonito Donaire. He pointed out as proof the fact that Pacquiao never invites Donaire to his birthday party, which has counted among guests foreign boxers such as David Diaz and Juan Manuel Lopez.

Continue reading "Do boxing champions Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao have secret beef?"

Since his star-making knockout of Vic Darchinyan in 2007, Nonito Donaire has spent much of his time fighting mediocre opponents, feuding with his father (invoking Jericho Rosales in the process), and dabbling in show business that fans almost forget just how talented he really is.

Yesterday, against Wladimir Sidorenko, Donaire finally stepped into the ring with an opponent worthy of his talent. The Ukrainian, a former world bantamweight champion, was by all accounts a very dangerous opponent, of a caliber Donaire hasn’t faced since the Darchinyan fight. A victory for Donaire would mean a much-awaited – and much more lucrative – showdown against Fernando Montiel.

Continue reading "Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire beats the living crap out of Wladimir Sidorenko"

In the lead-up to Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 14, Fire Quinito will feature Sparring Sessions, a series of interviews with pundits, bloggers, and boxing fans that discuss issues that affect Pacquiao, Filipino boxing, and combat sports in general, veering into topics that mainstream media rarely talk about. Up next is Mark Lorenza, who covers boxing and MMA at his blog Pinoy Fight Scribe, talks about life after Manny Pacquiao, up-and-coming Filipino fighters, and the potential of MMA in the country.

Continue reading "Sparring Sessions: Pinoy Fight Scribe’s Mark Lorenzana on life after Manny Pacquiao and Pinoy prospects in boxing and MMA"

In the lead-up to Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 14, Fire Quinito will feature Sparring Sessions, a series of interviews with pundits, bloggers, and boxing fans that discuss issues that affect Pacquiao, Filipino boxing, and combat sports in general, veering into topics that mainstream media rarely talk about. In the first session, Filipino-American boxing examiner Dennis ‘D Source’ Guillermo talks about why Pacquiao won’t be going away any time soon, problems with some Pinoy boxing fans, training for Filipino boxing prospects, and Batista’s chances in MMA fighting.

Continue reading "Sparring Sessions: Dennis ‘D Source’ Guillermo on Pacquiao’s retirement, Filipino fight fans, and Batista in MMA"