Nonito Donaire’s soul searching leads to new ring persona

Nonito Donaire reintroduced himself with a rallying cry during his media day workout Monday at Top Rank Gym.

Donaire was surrounded by reporters, and the subject of his age and two memorable losses kept coming up.

The decorated boxer known as “Filipino Flash” put his past behind with a chant that resembled The Haka.

Donaire gathered his crew dressed in green jumpsuits and began to shout as his teammates repeated every line.

“I am a warrior! … I am limitless! … I claim victory!”

Donaire wasn’t done there. He then broke out an inspirational speech that ended with loud cheers from the crowd. Denzel Washington couldn’t have done it better in one of his sports flicks.

“I just recently got that new persona,” Donaire said. “I had to stand up for myself. All of these things and failure were consuming me. I seeked a lot of books and seminars to see who I was. You never really know until you speak to yourself.”

Spiritually, the 33-year-old Donaire has changed. He also claims to be different in the ring.

The new Donaire (37-3-0, 24 knockouts) will defend his WBO junior featherweight belt against Jessie Magdaleno in the co-main event of Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas card at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs) is a rising 24-year-old fighter who claims Donaire’s ring wars have caught up to him.

Donaire doesn’t deny that and decided to make changes to his training camp.

The former four-division champion was in need of a new trainer after his father and longtime trainer, Donaire Sr., decided to move back to their home in Northern California.

The younger Donaire, who moved to Las Vegas in 2011, didn’t want to leave his wife and two sons behind to train in California.

Ismael Salas, a defensive guru from Cuba, now oversees Donaire’s camp. Salas also has insight on Magdaleno since he was his former trainer.

“Salas is an amazing coach,” Donaire said. “I’ve been with a lot of great coaches, but there are some coaches that are just a perfect fit. Salas is my fit. The way our dynamic comes, it’s like peas and carrots. It’s like magnet to a metal.”

Donaire rose through the ranks as an exciting brawler who didn’t mind taking shots to get his knockout punch.

The reckless style finally caught up to him. In the two biggest fights of Donaire’s career, he was outboxed by Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2013 and knocked out by Nicholas Walters in 2014.

Donaire has bounced back to win four consecutive fights and another title, but he hasn’t been himself until recently.

SOUL SEARCHING

It was hard for Donaire to accept the two defeats. He was perfect for a decade before the two setbacks, and these weren’t under-the-radar matches like his 2001 loss to Rosendo Sanchez in his second professional fight.

The boxing world was watching when Donaire hit the canvas for the first time in his career from the powerful shots delivered by Walters.

“It was a hard time,” Donaire said. “I did a lot of soul searching.”

Donaire attended multiple Tony Robbins seminars and read motivational books such as “The Power of Habit,” “The Book of Five Rings” and “Think and Grow Rich.”

The Filipino fighter found out that his underdog mindset in the ring wasn’t working anymore.

Donaire said he fought as a way to avoid the bullies that picked on him in the Philippines for being small, and for the ridicule he endured of being an immigrant grade-school student in the Bay Area.

“When I was in the ring for the first time at 11 years old, I was so scared,” Donaire said. “What I found out was that I fought to survive. That mentality helped me win all my fights. I was the king of the ring, but I then became the bully. I never changed my mentality, and that led to my downfall.”

PACQUIAO FACTOR

Donaire has gone most of his career with the pressure of becoming the next Pacquiao.

He’s met expectations and will be a Hall of Famer. But the Pacquiao comparisons are back with the two Filipino fighters on the same card for the first time.

“I think it is a good present for us and for the Philippine people for us to fight on this card together,” Pacquiao said.

It’s hard to believe this hasn’t happened before with both boxers promoted by Top Rank. Donaire didn’t want to explain why it hasn’t happened and said he hasn’t spoken to Pacquiao in years.

Donaire wishes his fellow countryman well Saturday, but he’s not picking sides.

“I’m friends with Jessie Vargas,” Donaire said. “I’m not going to get into this Philippines versus Mexico rivalry. It’s every man for themselves.”

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.