On May 29, 2021, Nonito Donaire became the oldest boxer to win a bantamweight world championship at age 38 and Donaire made history when he defeated French-Moroccan Nordine Oubaali via fourth-round knockout to capture the WBC bantamweight title and become a three-time bantamweight world champion. Now he is out the defy Father Time again and break his own record at age 40.
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The amazing four-division world champion has been knocking out opponents much younger than him in the past years, and only recently lost his title in a rematch to Naoya Inoue, who is considered by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.
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After he became an undisputed world bantamweight champion last year, the legendary undefeated Japanese decided to relinquish all his title belts and move up to the higher super bantamweight division.
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The four sanctioning boxing bodies negotiated qualifiers and vacant title fights at the bantamweight division, and Donaire will be given another chance at winning a world title once again.
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Donaire is the WBC number one ranked bantamweight contender and Mauricio Sulaiman announced that they have given approval to have the veteran Filipino fighter get a crack at the WBC vacant title.
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Donaire will battle Mexico’s Alejandro Santiago for the vacant belt as he seeks to give himself a chance to reset his own record as the oldest boxer to win a bantamweight title. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed this proposal to ESPN Knockout.
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Fellow Filipino Reymart Gaballo will face Thailand’s Nawaphon Kaikanha in a fight that will most probably determine the next challenger for the WBC belt.
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Donaire is 42-7 and his next opponent, Santiago, is only 27-years-old and is fresh from a stoppage win over American Antonio Nieves, improving his professional record to 27-3-5 with 15 KOs.
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Santiago lost to American Gary Antonio Russell by majority decision on November 27, 2021 at Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Santiago was also defeated by fellow Mexican Johnny Michel Garcia by split decision on November 15, 2014. He also lost to another countryman Hector Flores Calixto on December 21, 2013.
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Santiago of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico had won 11 of his last 12 bouts to become the No. 4 WBC bantamweight contender. Before that streak, Santiago settled for a split draw with former Filipino world champion Jerwin Ancajas in their September 28, 2018 match for the IBF super flyweight title.
