Nonito Donaire already comfortably stands as a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, but the Filipino fighter is still trying to find new ways to further forge his legacy. 

Ever since the start of his professional career in 2001, the four-division champion Donaire has been a world titleholder at 112, 118, 122, and 126 pounds. 

Donaire first made his big splash in boxing in 2007 when he stepped down from 115 pounds to 112 pounds and shockingly and brutally knocked out former world champion Vic Darchinyan. 

Donaire defended his 112-pound crown three times before moving back up to 115 and enjoyed a brief monthslong 115-pound stint as a WBA interim titleholder from 2009 to 2010. 

But “The Filipino Flash” never conquered the division, and now, at the age of 40, Donaire is dismissing retirement and declaring that he still has unfinished business in a new weight class. 

“I want to win my fifth division [world championship]. I want to challenge the 115 [pound WBC titleholder] Juan Francisco Estrada, and even Marcos Maidana's fighter [IBF champion] Fernando Martinez,” Donaire told DAZN.

Donaire has been adamant in recent months that he’s ready for a serious run at super flyweight by also calling out the likes of Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Kazuto Ioka. 

In December, Estrada beat Gonzalez, while Ioka fought to a disputed majority draw against Joshua Franco. 

Now that the division chips have fallen into place, Donaire is in a better position to make his next move. 

In November, the WBC also ordered a bantamweight fight between Donaire and Jason Moloney that could ultimately be for the belt should Naoya Inoue decide to vacate for his own run at 122 pounds. 

Donaire lost to Inoue via unanimous decision in the 2019 fight of the year only to bounce back to string back-to-back fourth-round KO wins against Nordine Oubaali and Reymart Gaballo before getting stopped by Inoue in a rematch in June. 

In addition to twice stopping Darchinyan, the 2012 fighter of the year Donaire has defeated the likes of Fernando Montiel, Jorge Arce, Toshiaki Nishioka, Moruti Mthalane, and Ryan Burnett.

Donaire has also lost to the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, Nicholas Walters, Carl Frampton, and Jessie Magdaleno. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.