By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: On March 16th, WBA and WBO champion Nonito Donaire left Bob Arum’s stable and joined forces with Top Rank rival Golden Boy Promotions. Mixed emotions have poured into the different websites either supporting Donaire’s move or not supporting it. But out of this whole ordeal, it has been Nonito’s wife, Rachel, that has been doing most of the talking. There are many angles to view this, but this is mines.
First point: Donaire wanted bigger fights and bigger money. He has garnered a great deal of attention after his second round destruction of Fernando Montiel and is now looking to capitalize on his sudden fame. From a business standpoint, I agree with the move. He’s trying to take some control (or in this case his wife Rachel) over his future. However, I think the timing is off. Donaire’s contract was set to expire in June. That’s three months away and a lot can happen in three months. Money can be resolved, deals fall through, and people get injured. Who knows? He might’ve gotten what he wanted. Rachel stated they wanted the winner of the Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko which is set to take place on April 23rd. Instead, Donaire was offered WBA champ Anselmo Moreno. Moreno is virtually unknown and no star power; and having a belt these days don’t really mean that much depending upon the fighter.
The bad part about this move is that Arums says that an option was exercised that could extend until 2012 and possibly 2013. This can really hurt Donaire. He might get the fights and the money he wants, but he will be paying two promoters like fellow Pilipino star Manny Pacquiao. Hopefully, this will not be the case.
Point two: With Donaire going to Golden Boy, Arums recent rants are not a surprise whatsoever. In 2001, Oscar De La Hoya took Arum to court trying to break his contract with Top Rank. De La Hoya won, started his own promotional company, and started a bitter rival. “Bob Arum’s people hope I lose because they can’t see a Mexican above them and also that he defeated one of the biggest Jews to come out of Harvard”. Arum later returned fire after the Golden Boy’s fight with Bernard Hopkins. He claims that De La took a dive for the fight in which he caked up over $30,000,000. (Source: Wikipedia Oscar De La Hoya)
Arum and Floyd Mayweather also had a disagreement over money and big fights. Floyd wanted 10 million to fight Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, but Arum was only willing to give him 7 million. Floyd bought out his contract for $700,000 and took over his own career. (Source: Floyd turns down 8 million to fight Margarito; by Dan Rafeal) And now Arum is doing the same thing to Donaire.
Arum went on to say “He’s a bantamweight and he wants to go up and I got four fighters who could beat him. With Nonito Donaire, you get a rights fee from television. He’s not a pay per view fighter. Filipino’s don’t support him”. Arum went on to say how jealousy played a part in the Donaire’s decision. (Source: Examiner.com) In an interview with Lem Satterfield, Rachel said that Arum was marketing Nonito as the next Pacquiao leading him to believe he would be marketed with Manny. The other problem was not being put on Pac’s under card. Michael Koncz said in an interview with Lem Satterfield (popular guy isn’t he?) there wasn’t enough money to go around for the two stars to share.
FT: What Michael Koncz said may be true. In my humble opinion, I believe Nonito was willing to sacrifice not making the big bucks at first in order to get the exposure to get the big fights. With his explosiveness and popularity growing, people would have taken noticed, thus causing a buzz thus leading to him headlining a few HBO cards. Eventually, it might have led him to be a pay per view fighter. Julio Ceaser Chavez fought many a fight on Mike Tyson’s card. The result? Became a household name, had big fights, and made some cash. If Team Donaire ONLY reason for moving to Golden Boy was because of jealousy, then they are in a world of trouble. What’s going to happen if Saul Alvarez becomes the cash cow? Now if they have moved because they TRULY believing Nonito can become a cash cow, make big money, and get the big fights he desires, then the move was right. But what Rachel has to understand is that the cash cow is going to get the lions’ share of attention. If Donaire becomes the cash cow, don’t be surprised if a fighter at Golden Boy has something to say about it. Only God and time will tell if this move was right.
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