Nonito Donaire Follows Manny Pacquiao’s Footsteps in Boxing Return

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Nonito Donaire is not retiring.

After nearly two years of hiatus, the living legend is ready to return to the boxing ring and will take on Andres Campos from Chile for the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight championship title on June 14, 2025, as part of the annual WBA KO to Drugs Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Donaire just followed the path that Manny Pacquiao took, as the sport’s only eight-division world champion came out of retirement and will attempt another shot at glory against Mario Barrios in a World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight showdown.

The “Filipino Flash” is coming off back-to-back losses against Alexandro Santiago and Naoya Inoue, but he thinks that he still has enough gas left in the tank to compete at the highest level of the sport.

Before his highly-anticipated rematch against Inoue, Donaire was rolling after knocking out fellow Filipino Reymart Gaballo and the imposing Nordine Oubaali.

However, Donaire has yet to pick up a single win since being in a slump, and will seek to redeem himself once more when the clash kicks off in Argentina.

Donaire will be facing a dangerous boxer as Campos is fresh off a win against Jimson Garcia and is carrying an impressive 17-2 professional win-loss record.

Experience is truly an edge for Donaire entering this fight, but Campos is a younger pug who is still finding his stride in the bantamweight division.

Donaire’s last scheduled bout was last July 2023 against Santiago and has been in silent mode in the past two years. Rumors of retirement quickly spread last year, but the Filipino star shrugged them off in a comeback for the ages.

If Donaire wins over Santiago, he will have a huge chance to improve his ranking in the bantamweight division and might arrange a possible fight against Seiya Tsutsumi, the WBA’s current top dog.