By Ryan Songalia

The star-making performance Nonito Donaire Jr. put on against Vic Darchinyan to win the IBF flyweight belt last year was supposed to place his career in boxing's fast lane.

Since then, Donaire has defended his belt just once against the unheralded Luis Maldonado, while Darchinyan has fought three times and earned a belt at 115 Saturday by stopping Dmitri Kirilov.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Donaire's extra-ring battles have been significantly fiercer, and more frequent, culminating with his split with promoter Gary Shaw and signing with Top Rank. Even a change in personnel has done little to arrange the meaningful fights the 25-year-old "Filipino Flash" out of San Leandro, CA so desperately seeks.

"I had scheduled fights this month and last month, but nothing came through," Donaire says. "I just want to see a contract right now because I want to fight."

Negotiations are underway for Donaire's next title defense against South African Moruti "Babyface" Mthalane, which have not been without their own set of stresses.

"This whole year I've tried to get a fight," says Donaire, 19-1 (12 KO). "Now this fight, are they gonna put it in South Africa? It's just been a lot on my mind."

Mthalane earned the mandatory spot by defeating Hussein Hussein last month by unanimous decision in South Africa. Donaire was tentatively slated to fight Hussein last year in Dubai before the entire card fell through.

Donaire says that should the fight go to a purse bid and wind up in South Africa, like Mthalane's promoter Branco Milenkovic is hoping for, he would vacate the belt and move up to 115 pounds, where the biggest fights to be found in the lighter divisions exist.

Bob Arum is hoping to put the Mthalane fight in Asia's Gambling Capitol, Macau, China, as part of a pay-per-view extravaganza. The undercard would feature Donaire's amateur rival Brian Viloria trying unseat 108 pound kingpin Ulises Solis.

Making 112 pounds has also been a major strain on the lanky Donaire. The on-again-off-again nature of recent fight discussions has made him hesitant to commit to the sacrifice of making weight.

"I don't want to go down to 112, thats one thing for sure. If I'm going to fight at 112, I want it to be the Japanese guys but none of them are stepping up.

"I would rather fight Arce, Montiel, Arce. Those are the guys at the top of my list."

Still, Donaire says should the Mthalane fight come off he would not look past the mandatory challenger.

"He has a good record," Donaire says of the 22-1 (15 KO) fighter. "From what I hear he's a tough guy. Plus he's hungry. With that alone is enough for me to work as hard as I can. I never underestimate those kind of opponents."

Donaire says that if the fight lands in Macau, he would train at the ALA Gym in Cebu City, Philippines. If the fight lands in America, which is also a possibility, training in the States would be more convenient.

Donaire's trips to the Philippines, where he has become very popular, have been marred by distractions in the past. He assures that if he goes there to train, training and only training will be his priority.

"The first time I let it happen. Everyone was inviting me to go places. I know now that I'm here for training and not to party or have dinner with friends. I'm going to send my Dad as a representative to meet with people there because I can't do things like that. It's already hard enough with the world watching me. I need to be 100%, not 80 or 90."

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