Nonito Donaire vs Alexandro Santiago world title fight lands in Showtime co-main event

The WBC world bantamweight title fight between former four-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr. and Alexandro Santiago is set in stone in the co-main event of Frank Martin vs. Artem Harutyunyan on Showtime Boxing on July 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 40-year-old Donaire will have a chance to break his own record of being the oldest bantamweight world champion in history when he fights Santiago for the WBC title, which was vacated by his old foe Naoya Inoue earlier this year.

According to Nonito's manager and trainer Rachel Donaire, the fight could have been a headliner in August but the team opted to take the date next month as the future Hall of Famer is already deep in training in Cebu.

"We had the option of being the main event in August but with the momentum of camp, we didn't want to risk burnout of plus four weeks and the opportunity to be fighting in Vegas with Frank Martin," Rachel Donaire said.

Donaire, 42-7 with 28 knockouts as a prizefighter, last saw action in June 2022 in a rematch against Naoya Inoue in Japan where he was stopped in round two.

Santiago, meanwhile, is mostly remembered by Filipino fans for going the distance and getting a draw with former IBF world super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas in 2018. He is 27-3-5 with 14 knockouts as a boxer and is currently on a three-fight winning streak.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News