Nonito Donaire coming face to face with Vic Darchinyan in Texas this past week ahead of their Nov. 9 rematch (Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank)

By Chris Robinson 

This past Wednesday, in Corpus Christi, Tex., trainer Robert Garcia was able to cross paths and spend considerable time with one of his star fighters, multi-division champion Nonito Donaire, for the first time in several months.

Donaire was in the city for a Top Rank press conference to announce an HBO-televised tripleheader featuring his rematch with Vic Darchinyan, a junior lightweight title match between WBO champion Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez and Mikey Garcia, and a clash for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title between contenders Demetrius Andrade and Vanes Martirosyan.

Donaire is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Cuban stalwart Guillermo Rigondeaux this past April. Following the defeat, Donaire had a successful surgery on his right shoulder and also celebrated the birth of his first child with his wife Rachel as they welcomed their son Jarel into the world in July.

Following a late-night training session with Donaire on Wednesday evening, Garcia was able to tell just how focused the Fil-Am star has been.

“We worked together a little bit,” Garcia noted. “Believe me, right now Nonito is probably better than ever. I had never seen him like this with two months before his fight. He’s about, I would say, no more than seven or eight pounds from the division where he’s going to fight. I had never seen that. He’s motivated, he’s dedicated. And when we worked out, man he’s so fast and strong.”
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