(SINCE Nonito Donaire Jr. is the hottest boxing topic today in the Philippines, may I re-print my Sunday PUNCH column in Dagupan City of March 6, 2011.) Fervent prayer for Donaire THE case of Nonito Donaire Jr. reminds me of Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. Elorde, as a boxer, had his fa­ther-in-law as his manager. His name was Lope Sarreal Sr. Lope, who was my friend, was a regular guy who delighted both his friends and foes alike with stories of adventure, here and abroad.

As an international matchmak­er in boxing, he had many friends and foes as well. You know how it is in boxing. This sport teems with angels. Also snakes. Jimmy Cannon, the great American sportswriter, aptly called boxing, “The red light district of sports.” Lope knew that by heart. He said he’d both treat with equal passion his friends and foes. “You can never go wrong if you act that way,” he said to me. “In my parties, they are all invited.” But he said he didn’t have foes.

“I only have critics,” he said. He had lived that long (he died in his 90’s) that “soon, I have outlived all my critics, which made life boring for me.”
Lope played in bands in Shanghai – piano, sax, drums, etc. – before the war. He was a gourmet, who’d cook impromptu, usually lechon kawali and crispy pata.

In his house during gatherings, he’d jump out of his seat to do that, bringing with him his half-filled glass of brandy – leaving us in suspended glee.
Upon returning from his cui­sine ways, his glass would be al­most empty. He’d immediately refill his glass and say, “Resume speed!” His stemmed glass raised up high. As Elorde’s manager, Lope charted his son-in-law’s career through all kinds of weather. Never has Elorde encountered any storm in his 7-year reign as world junior lightweight cham­pion.

Now to Donaire. Dodong to his family and friends, Donaire had his father as his trainer and man­ager from Day One. When Dodong fell in love with a pretty woman, his relationship with his Dad went sour. Soon, even Dodong’s Mom distanced herself from her son. The first time he became world flyweight champ, Donaire’s par­ents weren’t on his side.

Recently, before Donaire captured the world bantamweight title, his parents, particularly his Mom, came out with all guns ablaze, accusing the boxer of not being a good son, especially on money matters. It broke my heart. It’s not very usual to see our parents hit us in public. But then, I was all the more saddened when Donaire hit back at his parents. I was told Dodon’g wife was the rift’s main reason. In short, Dodong stuck by his wife. Fine. What isn’t fine is, Dodong seems, for now, is not bent on mending fences with his parents. I pray he changes his mind. Soon. As sons and daughters, we maybe right but right does not mean we have every right to fight our parents. They scold us, we keep quiet. They hurt us, we keep quiet. May Donaire see the light. Soon.
*****

Donaire sees light
MY prayers were answered as always, they are, since God is good. Always.
Donaire Jr. smoked the so-called peace pipe with his Dad a week or so after the above col­umn came out.
Again, another prayer is in or­der: That Nonito’s peace pact with his Dad also included a move by Nonito to kiss the hand of his Mom in repentance.
In their kiss-and-make up deal between Nonito and his Dad, I haven’t seen Nonito’s Mom in the story.
As everybody knows, Nonito’s Mom came out smoking before Donaire knocked out Fernando Montiel in the second round to grab the WBC/WBO 118-lb crown.
She accused her son of charg­ing his Dad of stealing $240 from Nonito.
I was shocked upon hearing that. I can’t even think of a scenario of a father stealing money from his son. Maybe, in some weird and crazy corner of the world, it might hap­pen. But will it happen in the Donaire household? Unbelievable, if not viciously bizarre.

For one, the elder Donaire was the first trainer and manager of his son, Nonito. You think Dad can do that to his son?
For another, the Donaire fam­ily has no history of poverty. I’m not saying the poor are like that, although they can be pushed, if not forced, into perversions due to life’s harsh conditions.

The son can do wrong to his parents and that’s not surprising at all. The parents can forgive anytime at all.
But have you seen parents stealing money from their kids? If your answer is yes, then you can also believe that GMA can also steal money from her chil­dren Luli, Mikey and Dato.
That simple.

Without a doubt, Nonito has the potential for greatness. He is now a world champion – and he appears on his way to re­tracing the path Manny Pacquiao had paved on the road to glory. But to paraphrase the Good Book, what profits a man that wins fame and fortune but loses his soul to the demon?
Yes, Donaire is a cinch to be­come another Pacquiao. Rey Fortaleza, the 1976 Mon­treal Olympic boxer who is now a super-successful publisher in Vancouver like our equally ac­complished publisher-editor Mon Datol in Toronto, kept telling me that during his last visit to the Phil­ippines for the PAL Interclub Golf in Cagayan de Oro.

“If he plays his cards well,” Reyfort said, “Donaire will be the strongest candidate to become our next Pacquiao.”
But before Donaire can pro­ceed to chase that dream, he should first be the good son that he once was before he became a world beater.
Otherwise, he’d be blocked, his advance halted. Karma it is also called.