For the last few years, Donaire was widely considered the second best Filipino boxer in the world next to Pacquiao. Yet, he was for the most part a relative unknown even to many boxing fans. Even many Filipinos with the exceptions of those hardcore boxing fans were not aware of him before his stunning knockout of Fernando Montiel.
Overshadowed by Manny Pacquiao and somewhat neglected by Top Rank, Donaire Jr. found it hard to obtain the recognition and the big fights he deserved. But it was understandable since Pacquiao's was piling up impressive accomplishments one after another on his way to becoming the face of boxing and Top Rank got to take care of its 'cash cow.' Although it could have been as easy as including him in a Pacquiao undercard to expose his talent to the mainstream boxing fans.
As a result, Donaire Jr. in recent years had been relegated to fighting fringe contenders in mostly under promoted fight cards. So while arguably possessing the most impressive package of skills in his divisions, his resume still fell short in terms of accomplishments compared to the upper echelon of fighters.
It didn't help either that he suffered from the 'Oscar De La Hoya Syndrome,' where many of his countrymen questioned if he was 'Filipino enough.' Although born in the Philippines, he grew up in the United States and it didn't help either that he was estranged from his immediate family, which led many to question his 'Filipino values.'
However, Donaire Jr. for those who have met him, will tell you that he is a humble and likeable person. At the same time, Nonito Sr was very hospitable and down to earth when I met him, while he was training Ana Julaton last year. Now its great to hear about the reconciliation between Nonito and his family, which was reported in Philboxing.com. No doubt, it was his main priority as it was for his family.
I had an interview with Glen Donaire last year when he was planning a comeback and one thing he kept saying consistently is how much he loved his brother, so it was only a matter of time before both parties come together and patch things up.
At the end of the day, everyone has had problems with their family at one point or another in their lives. It's just more complicated to work things out when it's played in the public specially when people from the outside tend to add more fuel to the fire by constantly reviving the issue about their feud or use it to further tarnish the reputation of one party without even putting the whole issue into perspective.
What is worse is when it is done by outsiders, who base their opinions on assumptions instead of facts and never been in the same situation. At the end of the day, no one really knew the truth beside the people directly involved in the misunderstanding. Although,both of the camps are not free of blame either since they chose to make their feud public.
But that is in the past and now Donaire Jr. has probably finally gotten over the most challenging obstacle in his quest to be one of the best fighters in his generation and be respected by the majority of his countrymen. What makes it sweeter is Donaire Jr. has reached his level of success mostly due to his and family's perseverance with barely any help from anybody else. Now, the fact that his whole family will now be with him in his journey to the top of the boxing world, probably provides him more satisfaction than his impressive win against Fernando Montiel.
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