The other Donaire

Hoping to follow in his younger brother’s footsteps, Glenn Donaire ended a three-year ring layoff to halt former WBO minimumweight champion Alex Sanchez of Puerto Rico in the eighth round for the interim WBC Latino flyweight crown at Kissimmee, Florida, recently.

Donaire’s brother Nonito has won two world titles in different divisions, the IBF/IBO flyweight and WBC/WBO bantamweight championships. He also captured the interim WBA superflyweight crown but never gained permanent recognition. Nonito, 29, is gunning for his third world title and will take on Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. for the vacant WBO superbantamweight throne at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 4.

Glenn, 32, lost in two attempts to bag a world title. In 2006, he was stopped by Australia’s Vic Darchinyan in the sixth round in an IBF/IBO flyweight championship fight in Las Vegas. Darchinyan would later lose the titles to Nonito. In 2008, Glenn was outpointed by defending IBF lightflyweight champion Ulises Solis in Sonora.

A rift within the Donaire family saw the brothers go their separate ways. For three years, Glenn stayed away from the ring, overshadowed by Nonito who repeatedly reached out to reconcile. Nonito encouraged Glenn to stage a comeback and offered to pay for his training expenses. But Glenn opted to find employment outside of boxing until his father Nonito, Sr. convinced him to try his luck in the fight game again. As kids, Glenn was superior to Nonito in boxing skills. When they turned pro, it was Nonito’s career that skyrocketed. Nonito has now won 26 in a row and is unbeaten since 2001.

A low point in Glenn’s career was when he surrendered to Z Gorres in the first round in Las Vegas in 2005. Glenn claimed he was thumbed in the eye and wouldn’t continue, prompting referee Jay Nady to stop it at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Sanchez, 38, had lost three in a row before facing Glenn so he was brought in more as a trialhorse than a serious opponent. Glenn was only 11 when Sanchez turned pro in 1991. To his credit, Sanchez held the WBO minimumweight crown from 1993 to 1997 and chalked up six successful defenses. Since losing the title, Sanchez has been thwarted thrice in bids to annex another world crown. The loss to Glenn dropped Sanchez’ record to 31-8-1, with 21 KOs. The win raised Glenn’s record to 18-4-1, with 10 KOs.

Like Glenn, Sanchez was coming off a three-year hiatus. “Donaire was quicker and sharper, the layoff affecting him less than it did Sanchez,” wrote Jack Hirsch in Boxing News. “Donaire used his height advantage and boxed well from long range. Donaire fought aggressively but when he did not find big punches, he elected to box the rest of the way, jabbing and moving side to side. The pace slowed and Sanchez was not fast enough to catch.”

Glenn floored Sanchez twice in the second round but couldn’t finish him off. Sanchez hurt Glenn at least twice – in the second with a shot to the body and in the fifth with a right to the chin. But Glenn displayed toughness in hanging on to bang back. Hirsch said he was surprised when Sanchez chose to stay on his stool before the start of the ninth. Sanchez said he injured his left arm.

How far will Glenn go in his quest for a world title remains to be seen. He’s got to get busy and start fighting contenders to prove his worth. Reconciling with Nonito would be a positive step because Top Rank could surely help Glenn in reviving his once promising career. Nonito recently signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with Bob Arum’s promotions outfit which is clearly a cut above the rest in the boxing business.

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Rain Or Shine and Powerade resume their shootout in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight. The Elasto Painters drew first blood, 114-97, last Wednesday and the Tigers evened the count, 121-113, last Friday.

For Powerade, the league’s leading scorer Gary David has been unstoppable, netting at least 30 in his last four outings. Marcio Lassiter was held to two points in Game 1 but woke up to fire 30 in Game 2. Powerade coach Bo Perasol said the key to beating Rain Or Shine is to contain Jeff Chan who erupted for 27 in the opener but was blanked in the rematch. He might be right.

The Tigers’ unsung hero is hard-working forward Sean Anthony, the sixth overall pick by Air 21 (traded to Powerade) in the 2010 draft. Anthony was chosen after Nonoy Baclao, Rabeh Al-Hussiani, Rey Guevarra, Elmer Espiritu and Josh Vanlandingham. He averaged 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 19.6 minutes in 21 games with Powerade last season. This conference, Anthony is hitting at an 8.7 clip. In Game 2 last Friday, he compiled 11 points and 15 rebounds. Anthony, 25, played at McGill University in Montreal. His mother Angie Dee is the sister-in-law of President Aquino’s sister Viel. His father is Canadian.

Rain Or Shine’s unsung hero is equally hard-working Larry Rodriguez, the ninth overall pick in the 2008 draft. Rodriguez, 28, is from Philippine Maritime Institute and was selected after Gabe Norwood, Jared Dillinger, Jayson Castro, Rob Reyes, Sol Mercado, Mark Borboran, Beau Belga and Bonbon Custodio. Last season, Rodriguez averaged 9.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 22.1 minutes in 40 outings. This conference, he’s scoring 9.5 points a game. In the playoffs, his average is 13.3.

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Retired UP vice president and well-loved professor Martin Gregorio texted some nuggets as his contributions to our “fun” list in last Tuesday’s column. In case you don’t know, he’s the father of the illustrious Gregorio brothers – Talk ‘N’ Text PBA governor, Maynilad senior vice president and Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines secretary-general Patrick, Meralco head coach and assistant vice president Ryan and the Lina Group of Companies sports director and former Smart Gilas assistant coach Allan.

The wetlook washers – Ren-Ren (as in Rain-Rain) Ritualo, Ronald Tubid (as in Tubig), Bitoy Omolon (as in Umulan), Cyrus Baguio, Charles Waters.

Most combustible brothers in the NBA – Pau and Marc Gasol.

Most incompatible teammates in the NBA – Austin Daye and Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons.

Sure to go to heaven – Sunday Salvacion.

Source of related confusion – DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Cousin.