Donaire, wife expecting their first child

World junior featherweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. will soon be adding another title to his growing resume: Father.

The 30-year-old Donaire, who is rated among the pound-for-pound best boxers in the world, announced this weekend that his wife Rachel is three months pregnant with their first child. The couple, whom first wed on August 8, 2008 (8-8-08) in a civil ceremony and had their church ceremony on November 11, 2011 (11-11-11), reside in San Leandro, California, where the four-division world champion also trains.

Donaire is coming off the best year of his career in 2012, where he earned The Ring magazine, IBF and WBO junior featherweight titles, plus many publications' Fighter of the Year award. Still Donaire says this was the greatest honor of all.

"I'm happy w/ all the awards and victories in 2012 bt 2 me everything ws nothing in comparison to when my wife told me she is pregnant....

— Nonito Donaire Jr. (@filipinoflash) January 14, 2013

"I'm happy with all the awards and victories in 2012 but to me everything was nothing in comparison to when my wife told me she is pregnant," said Donaire (31-1, 20 knockouts) , a native of Talibon, Bohol, Philippines, via his Twitter account.

Donaire fought four times in 2012, an almost unheard of amount of activity for a championship level boxer, but says he won't be fighting in the summer months to be by his wife's side.

told my manager and promoter tht June, July, or August I do nt wnt 2 fight.Even if its millions of dollars, I want 2 b w/ my baby n my wife

— Nonito Donaire Jr. (@filipinoflash) January 14, 2013

"I told my manager [Cameron Dunkin] and promoter [Top Rank] that June, July, or August I don't want to fight. Even if it's millions of dollars, I want to be with my baby and my wife." - AMD, GMA News



Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News. He is also a member of The Ring ratings panel and can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found here. Follow him on Twitter too.