After much speculation, Nonito Donaire’s next fight is now set. Donaire will be returning on March 28 in Pasay City, Philippines. Known as “The Filipino Flash”, this will be Donaire’s first fight in the Philippines in six years, dating back to April 2009. Overall, he’s fought three times in the Philippines in his career thus far.
Also important is that Donaire is dropping back down to 122 lbs for the fight. He’ll be up against William Prado, a fighter who was quickly outclassed and dispatched of in his lone previous fight at the upper reaches of the sport against Scott Quigg in 2013.
This fight is really not meant to be a stern test for Donaire, but perhaps more importantly should be used as a gauge for whether he should continue to fight at this point. Considering his statements both before and after his crushing knockout defeat to Nicholas Walters last year, some are surprised to see Donaire back in the ring at all.
He’s looked like a fighter who simply didn’t have a complete desire to train and dedicate himself physically and mentally. One also wonders, therefore, if this fight has any “sendoff” components to it.
Donaire is going back to the Philippines, and as mentioned, hasn’t fought there often in his career. He has talked time and time again about his waning commitment. He’s also moving back down in weight to a division where the champion, Guillermo Rigondeaux, has already beaten him soundly, and where some of the other lucrative opportunities, such as a fight with Leo Santa Cruz, would be nixed because of Santa Cruz’s move to Al Haymon.
At this point everything else is just speculation though, so we’ll have to wait and see how Donaire looks in the ring.
