Having just turned 43, Nonito Donaire is well aware that he is on borrowed time in his Hall of Fame-bound career.
If anything, the threat of any fight being his last only further motivates him to strive for the absolute best challenges.
It’s what led to his landing a showdown with unbeaten Seiya Tsutsumi, without even knowing the exact stakes of their forthcoming meeting. Donaire, 43-8 (28 KOs), concedes 14 years in age to the 29-year-old Tsutsumi, 12-0-3 (8 KOs), as well as hometown advantage in their December 17 clash at Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
“I always look forward to something bigger in my career,” Donaire told BoxingScene. “Winning this fight sets me up to challenge the other champions and collect the other belts in the division. This is the opponent that puts me back at the top.
“That’s motivation enough to keep pushing harder and make sure there is a 2026 to talk about with a win. It doesn’t matter who it is in the division, as long as I get to unify and keep moving forward. My mindset has always been to take everything that my rivals have. First things first, though: I have to take care of this guy first to make sure all of that is in play.”
Both Donaire and Tsutsumi are recognized by the WBA as bantamweight titlists. Donaire holds the interim version of the belt, while Tsutsumi awaits word on whether he will remain its “champion in recess” or if his previous full reign will be restored.
Tsutsumi was downgraded when he was still recovering from injuries at a time when he was due to face Antonio Vargas in an ordered title consolidation clash. Vargas was upgraded to full titlist but is now the one who is unavailable as he takes time to mourn the passing of his mother.
Regardless of what version of the belt is at stake, the main objective for Donaire was to land on an opponent and get in a full training camp for the occasion.
Such a luxury was not afforded ahead of his previous outing.
Donaire accepted a very late-notice opportunity to fight for the WBA’s interim belt as part of its “KO Drugs Festival” boxing event earlier this June in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It meant a truncated camp ahead of his clash with Andres Campos, whom Donaire defeated via technical unanimous decision when a clash of heads ended their bout 1 minute into the ninth round.
It was Donaire’s first fight since a July 2023 unanimous decision defeat to Alexandro Santiago in his current Las Vegas hometown. The vacant WBC 118lbs belt was at stake, but Donaire fell well short of entering his fourth bantamweight title reign.
Public perception was that his best days were behind him and that it was perhaps time to consider the next chapter in his life.
Ever the competitor, Donaire refused to accept that night as the final chapter in his career. He heard that same advice too many times before, particularly after a frightening stoppage loss to then-unbeaten Nicholas Walters to end his WBA 126lbs title reign in October 2014.
Just over a year later, Donaire entered his second tour as a 122lbs titlist.
Losses to Jessie Magdaleno and Carl Frampton – two years and three fights apart – once again came with the suggestion that he no longer had it. Seven months after his defeat by Frampton, Donaire pulled off a major upset with an injury stoppage of Ryan Burnett to win the WBA 118lbs titlist.
Just two weeks shy of his 36th birthday, he surpassed his Filipino countryman Gerry Peñalosa as the oldest bantamweight titlist in boxing history. His reign lasted one year until he fell short to Naoya Inoue in their 2019 Fight of the Year-honored throwdown. He broke his own record in a May 2021 knockout over then-unbeaten WBC titlist Nordine Oubaali, though he again saw his title reign end against Inoue, this time in a June 2022 knockout defeat in their rematch.
The opportunity to contend for even a secondary version of the WBA belt was enough to get Donaire back in the ring earlier this summer. He and his wife and manager, Rachel Donaire, had long planned a ring return throughout 2024 and into this year before they were able to finalize an agreement for the belt to be at stake in his clash with Campos.
It was hardly meant to be the last call but rather a means to an end. It was an investment into the in-ring future he still believes exists, whether it meant facing Vargas, Daigo Higa, former IBF titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez or the very opponent next on his schedule in Tsutsumi.
“A lot of people say that I’m already guaranteed to be in the Hall of Fame, but what drives me the most is still being able to do this,” insisted Donaire. “Time in the ring is limited. The fact that I still possess the capability to beat these other guys out there and compete at the highest level, that inspires me to keep going.
“I’m on a lifeline where this is my joy and glory, it’s what inspires me and gets me out of bed in the morning. I’m not here just for the accomplishment. Doing this makes me a better person and gets me more excited about life in general.”
