Trainer: Julaton all primed for rival Brown

Noting Ana Julaton’s tremendous improvement in terms of power and technical skills, trainer Nonito Donaire, Sr. expressed confidence the Filipina champ will emerge victorious from her title fight with Canada’s Lisa Brown next week. “We will win this fight because we know Lisa Brown [and how to beat her]," Donaire said in an interview with Sportshypeboxing.

Julaton, the reigning IBA and WBO female super-bantamweight champion, will seek to add a third belt to her collection, the vacant WBA 122-lb strap, against local bet Brown on Saturday at the Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada (Sunday in Manila). “She’s [Brown] an experienced boxer but we’ll see. I know we are 100% ready for this fight. We will give a good fight," Donaire said. Julaton (6-1-1) may be less seasoned than Brown (16-4-3) but Donaire said the Daly City-based Pinay has progressed by leaps and bounds since he first trained her last year. “I feel like she’s improved 10 times more compared to before. Before, I didn’t feel her punches, but now my muscle aches when she puts everything in her punches," the trainer said, adding “The Hurricane" complements such power with improvement on her footwork and technical skills, not to mention her dedication in training. Julaton has made a name for herself by going 2-for-2 in world title fights and becoming a double-world champ after only eight pro fights. The 29-year-old Julaton defeated veteran Kelsey Jeffries (41-10-1) via majority decision in their battle for the vacant IBA tiara last September 2009 then hacked out a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Donna "Nature Girl" Biggers (19-9-1, 16 KOs) last December to annex the WBO belt. “What happened was her past opponents underestimated her [Julaton] because of her limited experience. But seeing her improvement, I’m not nervous or have any doubt [she can win a third title]. I’m so excited and it doesn’t matter if we slug it out with Lisa Brown because I know her [Julaton’s] power," Donaire said with confidence. - GMANews.TV