Donaire still eyeing Montiel and Sidorenko

Nonito Donaire’s 2010 campaign hasn’t played out fully the way he had hoped but he looks to be getting a great parting gift in the form of a clash with bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel early next year in

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if everything goes according to plan. Donaire is slated for a December 4th encounter with former titlist Wladimir Sidorenko at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California underneath the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Alfonso Gomez meeting and while the bout isn’t one to get anyone’s blood boiling it is significant in many regards.
Donaire is currently training out of the Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos, California and has roughly a month to go before putting the Ukrainian to the test. Donaire is one of the most unique talents in the sport because of his tremendous counterpunching, speed, athleticism and unorthodox nature but those gifts have also seemed to hinder him as he hasn’t been able to find the fights he truly desired since his breakout victory over Vic Darchinyan over three years ago.


Talented yet avoided in many regards, Donaire’ frustrations had been evident in recent years but even in the often cruel sport of boxing good things end up coming to those who wait. During a recent conversation with the 27-year old I was able to gather his thoughts on his training, his mindset heading into the fight, the looming Montiel clash, purchasing a new home in Las Vegas and much more.
Continue reading below for all of Donaire’s thoughts…

The element of sparring…
“So far we have sparring guys coming in already. I have my trainer here and so far, so good. Sparring to me is important. It is one of the important things in training. It’s what is going to get me in better shape. You’re simulating who you are fighting and pretty much just trying to get in good shape.”

Training at Undisputed in San Carlos, CA…
“I have a time where really nobody is there so I have the entire gym to myself. I got my guy Michael Bazzel who is my strength trainer and he helps out a lot of the guys. I’m just preparing, doing a lot of plyometrics and overall it’s really good. It’s like a family thing in that gym and everybody is really cool. We have boxing and MMA so anyone who goes to that gym can learn different type of arts.”

Fighting his fight…
“Pretty much I focus more on what I bring to the table because I want them to fight my fight, not me fight their fight. I go out there and I don’t really study much. My coaches will tell me that this guy does this and that guy does that and we pretty much just try to come up with a game plan. I pretty much just go out there and try to make my style be dominant. Just trying to make them fight my fight, that’s what I need to do for whatever style comes up. I am always versatile in that sense.”

Outside of the gym…
“I relax. Once I am out of that gym I usually just relax, watch TV or go online and study a little bit. That’s what I do. There are a lot of things that keep me away from boxing. But when I am there I am eager to learn. You can’t help sometimes to think about it. To me, I am a thinker and I always think about what kind of plan I can use and stuff like that.”


The feeling of victory…
“It’s pretty much a personal victory for me in the sense that I put my game plan together and I executed everything. That’s a good victory. For my victories now, everyone is in there. All the people that support me, everybody that cared about me fighting or was eager to see me fight. All the supporters, the people in the Philippines, they all come and give me the determination. It becomes a sweet victory when I think about tit. When I win it becomes that. It’s not just about me. In a personal note, if I accomplish my game plan when I execute.”

Eyeing the competition…
“For me as a fighter I will fight anybody. All I know is that I signed a contract and I am ready to get past Sidorenko. I know that he is a tough opponent and I am looking to make a statement by beating this guy and getting ready to face [Fernando] Montiel. I am always going to call out Montiel. All I know I am fighting in February after this fight against Montiel because I signed that contract. I just have to defeat Sidorenko and I am getting set on fighting him in February.”

Open media workout on November 6th…
“The thing with that is that it’s going to be in the O.C. at the Reign Gym. That’s Mark Munoz’ gym. We are just trying to put Mark Munoz with MMA, Boxing, and Filipino pride and do a public workout out there so the people around the area, from L.A. to Anaheim to the O.C. will check it out and get to know me and what I am all about. Maybe they will be interested to see me in the fight and we can pull them to go to the Montiel fight in Vegas. We are always trying to shoe what the Filipino flash can show.”

Purchasing a new home in Las Vegas…
“Vegas is the boxing capital. Everything is going to be easier when it comes to dealing with a lot about boxing. We like the place, it’s pretty nice. It’s our very first place and we are excited. We’re happy to be there and feel that you aren’t even in Las Vegas. It’s something that we have been looking forward to.”

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