Nonito Donaire Jr. (left) will fight Alejandro Santiago of Mexico for the vacant WBC world bantamweight title. | Boxrec photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — There is no stopping the former four-division boxing world champion Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. in reclaiming his boxing glory after earning another shot for a world title this year.
This was after the World Boxing Council (WBC) recently announced that Donaire Jr. and Mexican contender Alejandro Santiago would clash for the vacant WBC world bantamweight title.
This came roughly a month after the WBC initially announced a world title clash between Donaire Jr. and Australian Jason Moloney which was eventually scrapped as both camps didn’t reach an agreement during the negotiation stages of the bout.
Nonetheless, the 40-year-old Donaire Jr. gets a shot to reclaim the WBC world bantamweight title, which he lost to Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue in June last year via a second round technical knockout in their much-anticipated rematch.
Donaire Jr. remains competitive even at the age of 40. He was the oldest WBC world bantamweight champion after winning it against Nordine Oubaali in May 2021 via a fourth round knockout. He went on defending the title against mandatory challenger and fellow Filipino Reymart Gaballo where he won by a fourth round knockout.
Currently, Donaire has a record of 42 wins with 28 knockouts and seven losses.
The much-younger Santiago, 27, of Tijuana, Mexico is ranked No. 12 in the WBA world bantamweight rankings.
Despite his low global rankings, Santiago is a dangerous opponent for Donaire with a 27-3-5 (win-loss-draw) record with 14 knockouts.
Santiago is riding on a three-fight winning streak since last year and won the Mexico super bantamweight title in the process.
Meanwhile, Gaballo, the young Polomolok, Cotabato native, is set for a world title eliminator bout against Thai Nawaphon Kaikanha. The winning boxer between Gaballo and Kaikanha will be the mandatory challenger for the winner between Donaire and Santiago’s world title clash.
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