Boxing champion Nonito Donaire recovering from bout of dengue fever

Boxing champ Donaire recovering from scary fever

Champion boxer Nonito Donaire is recovering from a frightening bout of dengue fever that put him in the hospital with a 104-degree temperature, his manager told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Donaire, a Filipino-born fighter raised in California’s Bay Area, fell ill Wednesday in the Philippines, where he has been living since defeating Rafael Concepcion for the WBA’s interim 115-pound title last month in Las Vegas.

Manager Cameron Dunkin says a regimen of intravenous fluids helped to reduce the fighter’s fever, which dropped to 100 degrees Thursday after climbing above 104. Donaire appears healthy enough to be released later Thursday.

Donaire’s wife, Rachel, thinks the boxer likely contracted the fever from a mosquito bite. More than 50 million people per year are believed to be affected by dengue fever, found largely in the tropics.

“Some people don’t react to it, some people do,” Dunkin said. “Rachel told me, ‘It can be dangerous, but we caught it very early and we got him in.’”

Donaire was treated at Asian Hospital in the southern part of metropolitan Manila, one of the Philippines’ top hospitals.

Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) was the IBF flyweight champion before moving up to 115 pounds. He hasn’t lost since his second professional bout in March 2001, most notably knocking out Vic Darchinyan to claim the IBF 112-pound title.

Despite the health scare, Donaire and his wife intend to remain in the Philippines for another month, Dunkin said. Donaire could have his next fight in early December, but he’s filling the time in between by singing on a Filipino television reality show, meeting politicians and doing charity work.

He also met with Manny Pacquiao, the presumptive pound-for-pound champion who hasn’t begun training for his Nov. 14 bout with Miguel Cotto. Donaire and Pacquiao are major celebrities in the Philippines, but their trainers and promoters at Top Rank sometimes see both fighters’ focus wander under their native land’s spotlight.