Lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr. will enter the ring for his 26th professional bout with a new face in his corner: former world champion Nonito Donaire, who grew up in the Bay Area and now serves as an assistant trainer for Flores.
Flores will fight Ronal Ron in the first-ever bout at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton on Saturday, to be telecast by BLK Prime.
Flores (23-2, 8 KOs), 24, has been a professional for seven years. Originally from Stockton, but now living in Las Vegas, Flores returns for his third straight fight in his hometown and looks to showcase new aspects learned from Donaire, who serves as a new voice in his corner along with head coach Gabe Flores Sr. and Ronald Simms.
Donaire elaborated on what he has seen in Flores.
“We work great together because I’m very offensive when it comes down to my defense,” Donaire told BoxingScene. “But Gabe [Sr.]’s way of doing things is he uses hitting you and all that stuff, so you’re able to catch, block, and slip.”
“So he emphasized a lot of the defense where I emphasize a lot of offense, but lil G already has a lot of offensive ability. It’s just now we’re just fine-tuning his true ability, which is his speed.”
Donaire, a four-division titleholder, balances his ambitions with his love of competing and teaching. He explained how he ended up working with Flores.
“I think it was just the friendship that I have now with his dad,” Donaire said. “We just had the same mindset, same kind of style in that way, using the brain and a lot of ring intelligence fighting there.”
Flores reflected on the addition of Donaire and how it has helped him in training camp.
“Nonito has a great eye and he fits in with our style perfectly,” Flores said. “When I hear my dad tell me to do something, I hear it and I go out there and I do it, but I might not have heard the second part, and Nonito saw the second part and will say it—and it will click because it is a different voice. When Nonito tells me it, it just stays in my head.”
This will be Donaire’s first fight working hands-on with Flores, whom he described as very talented and skillful. Flores’ opponent, Ron (14-6, 7 KOs), 27, of Venezuela, has lost his last three fights but has faced world-class opposition such as Hector Luis Garcia and Abdullah Mason. Donaire cited Flores’ heart as one of his standout traits.
“This kid has got a lot of heart, and that’s something that you can’t teach,” Donaire said. “Not only that, he has a lot of skills and talent, speed, and power when he puts it all together. But the kid has a lot of heart. You don’t learn that—it is within you. Within your heart. It’s within your body, within your system. And something that you can’t teach and he has it already.”
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