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    Donaire remains focused on unification fight despite split with Conte

    Donaire remains focused on unification fight despite split with Conte
    Mar 21, 2013
    Nonito Donaire Jr. ios looking for a knockout in his unification fight against World Boxing Association (WBA) counterpart Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba. Jerome Ascano

    WORLD Boxing Organization (WBO) super-bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. is the least distracted with his break-up with nutritionist Victor Conte, the split coming within only three weeks before his title unification fight with World Boxing Association (WBA) counterpart Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba.

    Although Donaire has kept mum about the matter, his wife Rachel said in a report by Sweet Science that her husband remains focused on his April 14 fight at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

    “Oh, no, the only thing that distracts him is the baby,” said Rachel, who is now five months pregnant with their first child.

    But Rachel said they had expected Conte to talk things over with them rather than informing them of his decision to quit the camp in an SMS message.

    “But a lot of times, people are non-confrontational,” she said.

    The 62-year-old Conte, who founded Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative or popularly known as BALCO which later got involved in the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, sent the text message `I quit’ to Donaire on Monday morning.

    He later made the break-up formal by saying on his Twitter account that "it was entirely my decision to quit" with regards to his move to leave Donaire’s camp ahead of his highly-anticipated match with Rigondeaux.

    Conte and Donaire began working together before the Filipino’s fight against Mexican Hernan `Tyson’ Marquez in 2010.

    Despite Conte no longer around, Donaire also vows to continue undergoing voluntary drug testing prior to his fights.

    Only a few hours before Conte quit on Donaire, the champion’s trainer Robert Garcia predicted an early knockout win for his fighter.

    “It’s going to be a great fight, Rigondeaux is great champion, a two-time Olympian. But I don’t think this (fight) can be called the toughest (challenge),” said Garcia in an interview.

    “We thought Montiel was the toughest challenge (for Donaire), but look at what happened,” added Garcia, recalling Donaire’s second-round TKO win over the former WBC/WBO bantamweight champion from Mexico.

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    Garcia believes Donaire is in his best condition right now.

    “We’ll do the same thing again. Nonito is in tremendous shape, he’s got tremendous skills, tremendous speed, and tremendous power to win it in one or two rounds, if he can,” predicted Garcia.

    “It can go later rounds, but I have no doubt. Nonito’s gonna be very prepared and convincingly win the fight.”

    Donaire is coming off a third-round destruction of Mexican Jorge Arce last December to retain his 122-lbs. title belt.

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    Nonito Donaire Jr. ios looking for a knockout in his unification fight against World Boxing Association (WBA) counterpart Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba. Jerome Ascano
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