Original Article: Examiner.com
By Dennis "D Source" Guillermo
October 10, 2012
Sports scientist and nutrition guru Victor Conte believes that "The Monster Man" will be back this Saturday. Conte told this scribe in an exclusive interview that WBO and IBF super jr. featherweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. will be carrying the same amount of momentum he did when he fought Fernando Montiel in February 2011 when he first coined the nickname for the Filipino slugger in reference to his conditioning for that fight. Great news if you're a Donaire fan; not so much if you are Toshiaki Nishioka.
"This is my sixth fight helping Nonito," Conte opened, and elaborated, "initially it was Tyson Marquez, there was a momentum that was gained, thereafter was Sidorenko and then Montiel... and you could really feel the carryover. By Montiel he was just... remember he went from Superman to Monster Man?"
Montiel didn't even manage to get out of the 2nd round against Donaire's "monster mode", but since that fight, Donaire hasn't necessarily looked as devastating. "What happened was, there was this long contractual delay of over six months, and the momentum was somewhat lost," Conte explained to me. "Then the outings thereafter that you know better than I do about (how things went with New York and San Antonio), a couple of fights he was using a lot of the methods - the Hypoxicator he continued training with - but it's not the same in my opinion with him being in Vegas and not coming here for camp," he added.
Conte was referring to Donaire's decision to abandon his training regimen at the Undisputed Gym for his fights against Omar Narvaez and Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr., opting instead to hold camp in Las Vegas where the 29-year-old fighter currently resides.
"Last camp for the fight at the Home Depot Center, he did come back here. He had a great camp. He was in tremendous physical and mental condition going in to that fight," Conte continued.
"I think it was more of a strategic fight. He dominated the fight, he knocked him down, he broke his jaw, so Nonito did great... he went 12 rounds," added Conte, as he emphasized the importance of Donaire's scientific training methods at the Undisputed Gym together with the aid of his SNAC labs. And for his fight this weekend against Nishioka, Conte is confident that Donaire will be back to his peak form.
"I think that has carried over to this fight, because this is the second camp back in San Carlos. I just personally like it better for Nonito to be here at Undisputed, so I think there's some momentum carrying over for this fight much like what happened with Sidorenko and Montiel," Conte said. "He's held the last two camps here, so I have very high expectations from Nonito, and I expect him to build on the momentum from the last fight."
Donaire can certainly do his career a big favor by putting forth a similar effort he had against Montiel this Saturday. Donaire has been able to drop his previous two opponents at the jr. featherweight division, but has not been able to take them out. Can he rise to the challenge against Nishioka? We'll all soon find out.
