Nonito Donaire set to fight opponent 15 years younger than him.
In recent times, it’s becoming more and more common for fighters to keep on going when they’ve reached ages that are considered far past the typical athlete’s physical prime.
In just the past few years, there have been several world champions who were 40+ years of age, something that has never been common in any sport at the top level.
Artur Beterbiev was 40 when he lost his titles in his rematch with Dmitry Bivol in February, Badou Jack was 42 when he lost his title to Noel Mikaelian this past December, and Erislandy Lara is still the reigning middleweight champion also at the age of 42.
In 2022, we saw Gennady Golovkin become the unified middleweight champion the day after his 40th birthday. And in July, we saw a 46-year-old Manny Pacquaio challenge Mario Barrios for a welterweight world title that most believe he should have won.
And there, of course, remain the immortal examples of George Foreman becoming heavyweight champion at 45 and Bernard Hopkins unifying at middleweight at 49, both becoming the oldest world champions in history at the time of their respective feats.
If we want to go back even further, Archie Moore, ‘The Old Mongoose’ himself, made his last successful title defence when he was 47, and he sent Alejandro Lavorante out of the ring on a stretcher when he was 48.
It’s not a thing that happens very often, but it happens often enough that it tricks both fans and fighters into thinking that they can keep on going, being spurred on by the thought of, “Well, those guys did it, so why can’t I?”
It’s no doubt this same train of thought that continues to chug along the tracks in the mind of a man known as ‘The Filipino Flash’.
Nonito Donaire is 43 years old, and he has been boxing professionally since 2001 when he was 18 years of age. In the time since, he has become a four-division world champion and been one of only six fighters in boxing history to hold world titles in three consecutive decades.
In addition to this, he became the oldest bantamweight world champion of all time when he defeated Nordine Oubaali to win the WBC title at the age of 38, and he is the only three-time world champion in this same division’s history.
His record of 43-9 contains victories in 17 world title fights. In his prime, he possessed a left hook that could level the very cities the men he faced came from. Even past his prime, he tangled with the brilliant Naoya Inoue, still being the one to make ‘The Monster’ look the most human in their first encounter.
Nobody could argue with such credentials. If Nonito Donaire retired tomorrow, there’d be no doubt that his fate is to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. His legacy, his achievements, are secured, reinforced, etched in marble.
So, then, why does he choose to continue?
Well, it could be the previously mentioned examples of older fighters’ success, or it could be that Donaire simply believes there is more he can achieve. After all, in his last fight, he lost a split decision to Seiya Tsutsumi, the undefeated WBA bantamweight champion. And in 2023, he gave a strong effort in challenging Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight strap.
But all the same, he is not the man he was in the first Inoue fight, as evidenced by his two-round trouncing at the hands of Inoue in their rematch over three years ago.
Donaire is not a typical 43-year-old. For a fighter of his age, he is still very skilled, and he could continue to pick up wins against the right opponents.
But for a man of his accolades, you can’t help but wonder just what more Donaire wants from his career.
Well, whatever that may be, his next opponent has now been confirmed.
Nonito Donaire will be fighting Riku Masuda of Japan on the 15th of March, a bout set to take place on the undercard of Anthony Olascuaga’s next flyweight title defence.
Masuda is 9-1 with 8 KOs and possesses a first-round knockout win over former title challenger Jonas Sultan, Donaire’s countryman.
Masuda also shares an opponent with Donaire in Seiya Tsutsumi, a fight which is the result of the only loss on Masuda’s record.
But aside from those things is age; Masuda is 28 years old, 15 years younger than Donaire. Undoubtedly, this will give Masuda a natural edge, but will Donaire’s big-fight experience be enough to overcome such an age gap?
I don’t know, but one hopes that Donaire doesn’t carry on for too long and that he finds what he’s looking for in continuing to fight at this stage of his life.
Nonito Donaire is already a legend, and he is one of the very best fighters to ever come out of the Philippines. Those two things will never change.
But another thing that will never change is that a boxer will always hope to stave off his inevitable decline, and it is always very sad to see that hope be proven to be nothing more than just an aging fighter chasing the ghosts of his past.
š„ Announced: Nonito Donaire will return to the ring once again at age 43 to take on Riku Masuda on March 15th in Yokohoma, Japan.
The Filipino legend was narrowly beaten by WBA bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi in December, and is now looking to earn another shot to breakā¦ pic.twitter.com/Rr0El2OJ6Q
ā Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 27, 2026
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