Nonito Donaire spoke to his fans through his Twitter account, and as always was classy in defeat to Naoya Inoue on Thursday.
” First of all, I want to thank God for keeping me safe in that ring. My guardian angels for holding that shield up, that armor as strong as they could. To Ringstar Sports Richard Schaefer for believing me so much to get me into this tournament. You truly have had my back through this all and appreciate you. To Mr. Honda, Teiken, the hospitality you have shown to me, my family and team has been amazing. I could not thank you enough. To Kato’s Clinic, your support is unending. I can’t thank you enough for your belief in me. To Mizuno, thank you for suiting me up for such an epic fight. You have treated me like family here and always taken care of me. To Japan, thank you for allowing us the experience of your wonderful culture both in the ring and out. Team Donaire, we trained our asses off and we just shrugged off anyone who said I didn’t stand a chance. We kept grinding and that work showed. HATERS said I was out in 1 round but we showed em our heart, our determination. To my fans, the journey we are on! You guys have gone gone thru it all with me and the amount of energy and love you’ve given is insurmountable. Lastly, to my family, my heart. I am a warrior on my shield. I came to Japan to take the Muhammad Ali trophy. I promised my sons they would see it in the morning. And with tears in my eyes, I humbly asked Inoue to borrow it for a night, not for me but for my word. It’ll be a life lesson my boys will soon learn. That you do your best and you come short. You will win. You will lose. But in either aspect you will do so graciously. It’ll pain them to see my face. They’ll kiss my wounds. They’ll see a trophy we don’t get to take home and understand what it means to want to train harder. And I told about the battle I fought. That I’d rather put my life on that sheild than give up. And that we will ALWAYS fight. I’m going to take time with my friends and family that have traveled to support me for the coming weeks. I thank you for the outpour of love and support,” said Donaire
