Nonito Donaire Jr. is undoubtedly one of the best fighters that has ever come from the Philippines. Truth is, if there was no Manny Pacquiao right now, Donaire's current #7 ranking in The Ring Magazine is not only one of the highest achievements ever for a Filipino boxer, it is also the highest ranking any San Francisco Bay area based boxer has achieved in the past 100 years.
So why isn't Donaire being embraced by Filipino fight fans they way they did with Pacquiao?
Most people say it's because he is considered a Filipino-American more than Filipino that's why the same passionate and fanatical Filipino Pacquiao supporters have not connected to him the way they have with Pacquiao.
Pacquiao embodies the struggle and the hardships his nation goes through every day. Even in the way he struggles with the English language, his fans may make fun of him, but a lot of them deep inside knows they'd have a harder time delivering a more eloquent interview once a mic and TV cameras are placed in front of them. It humanizes him and endears him more to his fans because despite of everything he has accomplished, he still resembles them. They see themselves in him the way Mexicans saw themselves in Julio Caesar Chavez whenever he stepped into the ring. Perhaps the same reason why they never truly accepted Oscar De la Hoya as one of their own. They said De la Hoya is an American first and a Mexican only when he feels like it. According to most Mexican fight fans I know, De la Hoya is not a Mexican.
But Donaire is no De la Hoya. He too was born and grew up exposed to the same kind of poverty Pacquiao did in General Santos City Philippines. Every time he fights, he has made it a point to bring honor to his country. So why the indifference?
Tomorrow I will be taking the witness stand at the Marion County court house here in Indy because one fateful night last June I witnessed a malicious crime which I will not soon forget. I am actually excited to re-live and face the horrors of that night so that justice may be served. In a similar manner, allow me to bear witness and try to recount to you my honest observations and perception of Nonito Donaire Jr. I have gotten to know Nonito closely since I started covering his career, perhaps closer than 99% of writers out there in the past year. I am confident about my professionalism and objectivity as a writer, and to be able to truly know a person and completely describe accurately, one has to see and know what truly goes on behind the curtains.
If I may, allow me to humbly try to state my case.
Your honor and members of the Filipino boxing fans jury, I have interviewed and spoken to many celebrities and athletes in the past and honestly, Nonito ranks on the top of my list as one of the nicest and most accommodating people I had ever had the privilege to talk to as a writer. If you follow my columns, you might notice that I'm really not your typical journalist. I have butted heads with a couple of my editors in the past because I'm somewhat of a hardheaded person you know. I believe in the honesty of my work regardless of whatever some people might hold against it. Fortunately things have worked out thus far and I have a great relationship with people I work with, even with the editors I occasionally butted heads with in the past. I offer a different perspective and I'd like to say I have a style of my own. Hopefully I can give a good and honest account of the topic at hand. You can take my word for it or not but all I can do is share my honest insights regarding the person behind the "The Filipino Flash" moniker as I take this witness stand.
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