DONAIRE TASTES THE HARD LESSONS OF THE PACQUIAO ERA

by TED LERNER

Nonito Donaire poses with Vic Darchinyan, and Darchinyan's promoter, Gary Shaw, prior to their IBF Flyweight title fight in 2007. Donaire knocked out Darchinyan in the 5th round to win the title

(Manila)–Nonito Donaire just can’t catch a break. After knocking out Vic Darchinyan in spectacular fashion in July, 2007 to win the IBF Flyweight title, Donaire has been itching to showcase his formidable wares in his native land, the Philippines. After months of interviews, articles and TV appearances in the Philippines, Donaire looked like he was about to get his wish, with a March 22^nd showdown against undefeated Mexican Raul Martinez at the famed Araneta Coliseum. But now, it was learned over the weekend, that that fight has been put on hold until April 19^th. And Team Donaire is not too happy about it

Donaire’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, claimed the organizers of the March fight, Solar Sports, postponed the card to April because they were having trouble getting sponsors. So after seeing his boy log two months of punishing training in the mountain city of Baguio, Dunkin has stated that he’s not going along with the plan. Instead he’s already talking with Donaire’s promoter, Bob Arum, to try and get his boy on the March 28^th undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. in Tijuana, Mexico.

Solar Sports executives were not available for comment as of press time because they were in a meeting discussing the matter, apparently with Donaire present. Wakee Salud, the advisor of Manny Pacquiao, said that indeed Solar was having problems raising money because the Pacquiao fight was so near.

“Right now they lack sponsors,” Salud said. “All the sponsors want to be with Manny when he fights. It’s very hard to raise money if you’re not Manny.”

Salud pointed out that Solar may ask Donaire to take a cut in his reported purse of $250,000, in order to help make the fight push through. While it’s certainly doubtful that Team Donaire will agree to that, Salud did point out that Donaire’s options are very limited.

“He has to stay(here in the Philippines),” Salud said. “If he goes home to the US and tries to get a fight there, he’s not going to make $250,000. Maybe $100,000.”

While Donaire weighs his narrow options, he should be taking the obvious lessons to heart. The first lesson is that while Donaire and others might think it’s easy to ride the electrified coattails of Manny Pacquiao to some hefty paydays of their own, the reality of the boxing business in the Philippines right now is that Pacquiao is everything, and everyone else is just about nothing.

It was once thought that Pacquiao’s mega stardom all over the world would be a major boom for boxing in the Philippines. As it turns out, however, Pacquiao’s wild popularity might actually be hurting the sport. Sponsors are not lining up to help find the next Pacman. They are only waiting for Pacman’s fights so they can jump on the bandwagon. Few if any large sponsors are putting up cash to try and find the next great boxing sensation. I’ve heard many promoters bemoan the popularity of Pacquiao because, they say, they can’t find sponsors. Everyone wants to be associated with the Pacman.

Donaire should also be paying attention to just how difficult it is to do business in the Philippines. This is now the second time that Donaire has become a victim of broken promises. Last year, a group of prominent Filipino businessmen formed a company that, they said, was going to transform boxing. They claimed they had plans to put up huge fights on a regular basis.

Then they came out said that they had a deal to put up a fight in Dubai, where Donaire was to take on Australia’s Hussein Hussein. The idea seemed to make sense. A fighter of Arab descent would capture the local fans, while a Filipino fighter would bring in the tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers. Then the promotion fell through. Apparently Arabs don’t care for boxing. And the promised sponsorship money never materialized.

Donaire’s face still appears on the banner advertising the promotion on Solar’s website, and the date has been changed to April 19^th. But then that begs the question; how could it be easier to raise sponsorship money just two weeks before Pacquiao takes on Hatton?

Unfortunately for Donaire, he’s having to learn these lessons right when he was on a roll. After taking out Darchinyan, he should have been super busy, especially against opponents with whom he can create intriguing story lines. At the lighter weights, you have to make hay while the sun is shining and the best possible matchups are essential to make fans pay attention. Instead Donaire’s career is seemingly stuck in a rut. Since defeating Darchinyan, he’s only fought twice in the last two years. In the meantime, Donaire’s peers in the lower weights are moving on without him.

Although he immigrated to the US when was 11 years old, Donaire grew up on the streets in some of the Philippines poorest provinces, very much in the way Pacquiao did. Ever since he started making a name for himself in professional boxing, he started noticing that he was getting known in his native land. In America, where boxing these days is at best a fringe sport, he is pretty much unknown to the general sports fans. But in the Philippines he has become famous. Not nearly as big as Pacquiao, but enough to make him believe he could carve out his own niche.

And indeed, if he stays busy, if he fights the best in his weight class, and he keeps winning, Donaire’s popularity within the Philippines will grow even further. However, it’s clear by this latest development that Donaire needs to expand his options and opportunities. Sure he can continue to drink the accolades of an adoring public, sign on for some advertisements, perhaps do some color commentary work on Philippine television for Pacquiao’s fights, and get a fight every now and then.

But he certainly can’t count on getting the big bucks on a regular basis to fight in Manila. In the era of Manny Pacquiao, talk is cheap. Everything else costs a lot of money.