Nonito Donaire looking to return at super flyweight, wants to become a five-division champ

Nonito Donaire Jr. is targeting a return to super flyweight and hopefully, win a world title in the weight class so he could become a five-division world champion.

Donaire, 39, last saw action against Naoya Inoue in a bantamweight unification where he lost via second-round technical knockout. He said he would like to move back down to 115 pounds moving forward and test himself anew against former pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez.

“It’s a really good fight with Chocolatito and people are saying it would be legend versus legend. It’s a big fight,” Donaire said in an interview with his promotion Probellum.

Donaire, 42-7 with 28 knockouts as a prizefighter, competed at super flyweight years ago. Though he held a title there before, it was merely an interim strap so it does not count in his collection of world championships.

Besides Gonzalez, Donaire revealed that his promotion is also in talks with the camp of Kazuto Ioka, who currently holds the WBO super flyweight title.

“But I do like the Ioka fight as well because I want to get that title and become a five-division champion and then move back up to 118 and go for the undisputed crown once everything else is open and I get another opportunity for it.”

Donaire had been considering the move even prior to his previous fight.

“Before the fight with Inoue, Richard Schaefer and I talked about going down to 115. Making the weight was very simple for me and I made it quickly. I even made 117 before stepping on the scales,” Donaire told.

“Richard and I were talking and saying that regardless of what happens here, maybe I can go down to 115 and fight the guys in that division,” he added.

“Richard is talking with Ioka’s people, with Mr. Honda and he is talking to Chocolatito as well. It’s exciting, there are a lot of things to look forward to.”

—JMB, GMA News