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Rachel Donaire orchestrates reconciliation between Nonito and his dad

The woman who was initially blamed as the reason for the bitter parting of the ways between 2012 “Fighter of the Year” Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire and his father and former trainer Nonito Donaire Sr. was, in the end, the architect of the reconciliation between father and son.

The four-division world champion told Yahoo Philippines that he was getting the credit for working out the differences with his father but that actually the credit should go to his wife Rachel, who was instrumental in bringing them together.

Turns out that Rachel, who had been regrettably maligned before, had the spirit of goodness within her, especially after the birth of their first son Jarel, to contact Nonito Donaire Sr in San Bernardino, California and work things out, inviting Nonito’s dad to fly to Las Vegas for a get-together to thresh things out.

She then informed a somewhat surprised Nonito that his father was arriving on a Thursday and she wanted the three of them to reconcile.

Nonito Donaire Sr. arrived as planned and the three were able to not merely resolve their differences but to erase the pain of what had gone on before and to look forward to a future as a family.

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Obviously one of the most distressing aspects of life is seeing a family torn apart by dissension as was the case in this instance. Unfortunately it seems that Rachel was the target – if not the cause – of the father’s bitterness while Nonito did what any good husband would do – he stood by his wife.

As often happens the passage of time has a wonderful attribute of healing and after some three years we learned, first from youthful colleague Dennis Principe who is close to both father and son, that whatever differences they had were settled and that all three, Rachel included, decided to let bygones be bygones.

At the outset of the family feud we ourselves politely refused to take sides since to us, family bickering may serve as the grist for gossip-prone media but do not have a place in our valuation of fighters and their fights, although conceivably such quarrels may serve as distractions that ultimately affect the performance of a fighter as it appears to have happened in one or two instances with Manny Pacquiao.

As we look back at the time when the quarrel between Nonito and wife Rachel on the one hand and Donaire Sr. on the other was given far too much attention with individuals ranged on either side based mostly on friendship rather than a fair assessment of the facts, we believe media must accept some of the blame for widening the gap rather than helping to bridge it.

While there are those who may argue that media is not supposed to act as peacemakers, we contend that media is certainly not assigned to aggravate an already dicey situation.

Nonito Donaire must be commended for having supported Rachel’s decision to call his father and to invite him to visit them in their Las Vegas home for which Donaire Sr. was very thankful.

The dad said it was one of the best feelings he had. It was the genuine response of a father towards a son whom he introduced to the sport of boxing and helped become a world champion.

Like any grandfather, the opportunity to hold his grandson Jarel in his arms probably brought tears to Donaire Sr.’s eyes ,and he himself admitted that he felt his heart applaud.

By a fateful coincidence Nonito will face Vic Darchinyan in a rematch in Corpus Christi, Texas on November 9, some six years after Donaire, nicknamed “Jun Jun” scored a stunning 5th round knockout to win the IBF/IBO flyweight title on June 7, 2007 for which he was trained by his father.

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Without making any specific commitments, Nonito told his dad that he would be part of Team Donaire once again, Donaire Sr. said he had goosebumps and vowed to help his son regain the skills he had demonstrated in the past.

Rather than even remotely resent the introduction of Donaire Sr. into the team, 2012 “Trainer of the Year” and former world champion Robert Garcia was obviously overjoyed about the reconciliation.

“That’s awesome” he told us, adding that "It's always a great relationship between father and son. Forget bad-mouthing each other. They had differences for a few years and I’m glad its over” even as he welcomed the assistance of Nonito’s dad in their training camp.

Robert Garcia’s family has faced a similar situation where one brother, Danny, doesn’t talk to any of them. Robert told us, “it’s a perfect example as we are together even though one brother doesn’t talk to us and my father (Eduardo Garcia who is also a trainer) doesn’t understand and in fact cried in front of me.”

We are certain deep down inside of them both Nonito and his Dad cried over what went on and it is an even greater tribute to Rachel that she is the one who reportedly arranged the get-together.

Nonito’s Dad told Dennis Principe of the Manila Standard, “I am really thankful that this has happened. I had dinner with “Jun Jun” (the nickname of Nonito) and Rachel. We talked about a lot of things but never discussed anything about the past except that we’ve accepted to forgive and forget our mistakes.”

After Donaire successfully defended his IBF/IBO flyweight title with an 8th round TKO over Mexico’s Luis Maldonado that December and South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane whom he stopped in six rounds in June 2008 because Mthalane was badly cut, his nose broken and his face battered, father and son were involved in a much-publicized spat which centered around Rachel.

It’s a different story now as Donaire Sr. said “I have now accepted everything knowing that they have been happily together for quite some time. But that moment when I held my grandson Jarel was really very special for me.”

Ephesians 6 in the Bible reminds us “Honor your father and mother” while in an admonition to fathers says, “Do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

As Robert Garcia exulted, “It's awesome.”

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.