WORLD BOXING ORGANIZATION super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire wants fight fans to see his full potential when he defends his title against Zsolt Bedak, the former Hungarian Olympian who is currently ranked No. 4 in the world when they clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on April 23.
The Philippine Sportswriters Association “Athlete of the Year” along with the longest reigning Filipino world champion, WBO light flyweight king Donnie Nietes and golfing ace Miguel Tabuena, Donaire told the Standard that after his lopsided twelve round decision in a brutal battle with Cesar Juarez of Mexico which he described as “a helluva fight” he was “grateful for what I went through”.
Donaire added “fans will know that I will always fight as a Filipino who will bring pride to our country and I’m not gonna quit no matter what.”
He said he was “super thankful and grateful to the PSA for this prestigious award. I’m very honored.”
Talking about his title challenger, Donaire said Bedak “is an overall fighter. He’s got speed and pretty decent power if he wants to but he’s more of a technical fighter than anything. They want to beat you by points but we won’t allow this. We know what we have to do.”
Donaire said he’s been studying Bedak’s fights for a few days now and said, “he’s a tough guy, a capable guy but we have faith that with my Dad (who is also Nonito’s trainer) will come up with the best game-plan.”
When discussing his lethal left hook and his overall advantage in power, Donaire quickly conceded “power is sometimes not enough to beat a guy who moves around. It’s a matter of having the best, most intelligent game-plan and when we follow the game-plan we can beat anybody.”
Donaire who leaves for Las Vegas with his wife Rachel and their two sons said he already has lined up Fredrick Bowen who was a sparring partner as he prepared for the Juarez fight and has “a couple of other guys at my disposal. I will be 100 percent ready for this fight. No excuses.”
He said he is “looking f or people to see my potential” admitting that he had “learned a lot in 2015 when I gave only 70 percent. I want to go beyond that. Sometimes when your body is too tired you feel that you’ve given everything but now a little push every time we’ll prove to be better. We are coming out with all the weapons . We are going to bring it out.”
