WORLD Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire has decided to set up his training camp in Las Vegas, where his trainer/father “Dodong” Donaire has a lot of fighters.
Donaire said they already have one sparring partner lined up, but are “looking for more with styles similar to Zsolt Bedak, the former Hungarian Olympian, who the Filipino battles for the 122-pound title at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on April 23.
Donaire told The Standard that training has gone well.
“I am trying to change up a little bit and put more combinations (in his repertoire of punches). That’s what we are working on now,” said Donaire, who, however, conceded, “it’s a tough style to acquire because it is tiring to get combinations (together).”
Donaire said he had watched fight tapes of Bedak.
“He is very methodical, moves well. He’s fast but not as strong,” said Donare, who won the WBO super bantamweight title for the second time when he dropped No. 1 contender Cesar Juarez twice in Round 4 to eventually score a lopsided points’ decision in a brutal fight in Puerto Rico last Dec. 11 that reignited fight fans’ interest in him.
The “Filipino Flash” said he will train in Las Vegas until the first week of April.
Donaire will leave for Las Vegas after he receives the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s prestigious “Athlete of the Year” award, along with the longest-reigning Filipino world champion, WBO light flyweight king Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and outstanding young golfer and Asian champion Miguel Tabuena on Feb. 13 at the One Esplanade near the Mall of Asia.
