Nonito Donaire raises the bar as a champion in boxing. Nicknamed the Filipino Flash, the Filipino-American flashes his way through the world of boxing and fighting in the featherweight division of the sport. While at it, the 43-year-old would move to win an IBF flyweight championship, WBC bantamweight championship, and WBA (undisputed) featherweight championship.
The Filipino Flash roots himself greatly as a fighter and interestingly, he also marries a fighter, Rachel Marcel Donaire. Like Nonito, his wife has knocking-out prowess as she holds a career as a USA Collegiate and Military Taekwondo champion.
Biography, Parents, and Siblings of the Fighter
He was born Nonito Gonzales Donaire Jr. in Talibon, Bohol, Philippines on November 16 1982. His parents are Nonito C. Donaire, Sr. and Imelda M. Gonzales.
The fighter has 3 siblings, one of whom is the famous former boxer, Glenn Donaire.
By the time he was 10, his family relocated to the United States where he continued his education, trained as a boxer, and also gained fame. He went to San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo, California.
From how he turned out, it is easy to think that the boxing champion may have had it all rosy. Well, this is not exactly the narrative. The fighter was unfortunately bullied due to his small structure.
To make it even more pathetic for him, he did not get the attention he desired from his parents. This would land him in a position where he had to rely on his brother, Glenn from whom he was better exposed to boxing.
Good came out of that as he won his parents’ attention. In fact, they were excited that their son would stay out of the streets. Again, another good thing about this for the 43-year-old fighter is that fighting is the one thing that would win him fame and bring him satisfaction.
Speaking of which, let’s look at Donaire’s career and rise to fame.
He Won 3 National Championships as an amateur and Became a Professional at 19
Having started boxing at a young age, it took Donaire only a while before he became a renowned amateur boxer. In 1998 when he was 16, The Filipino Flash became a national champion for the first time. Then, a year later, he won the National Junior Olympics.
Also, in the same year, 1999, the Philippines native won the International Junior Olympics gold medal.
In 2000, Donaire made another great turn in his career with a National USA tournament championship.
This would encourage him to put more effort into his growing career. As a result, he became a professional boxer in 2001 when he was about 19 years old.
Years have passed, fights have been fought, and Donaire sure did not forget to write his name in gold in different weight divisions. He started in flyweight and later transitioned to super flyweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight, and then to featherweight.
Also, Donaire has fought numerous boxers such as Jose Lazaro, Paulino Villalobos, Vic Darchinyan, Raúl Martínez, Manuel Vargas, Fernando Montiel, and Carl Frampton.
In his career at the time of this report, Nonito has had a total of 50 fights, 42 wins (28 wins by knockout), and 8 losses.
Who is Nonito Donaire’s Wife, Rachel Marcial?
Donaire’s wife is Rachel Marcial-Donaire. She is a Filipino-American USA National Collegiate and Military Taekwondo champion. The 43-year-old is an advocate for abused women and children and has appeared in HBO Boxing After Dark (2011-2012) and Ole Head’s What Would You Do? (2023).
She also describes herself on Instagram as “WBC’s 1st Female world champion Trainer”. In any case, she is a member of The Filipino Flash team.
Rachel and Donaire were married on August 8, 2008, in Carmel, California. Before then, the couple had been together for over 7 years. Rachel revealed on her Instagram page how she and Nonito missed prom in 2000 so as to attend the Olympic trial.
Their marriage has not always been perfect. In fact, Nonito reports how Rachel drove him to file for divorce. Instead, he was willing to fight and now their marriage has lasted over a decade. In his words, The Filipino Flash says:
Happy 15 yr anniversary (to freeze this day) ..spent 10k bc thats all we could afford. Ppl held their breathes waiting for 5 years for us to divorce to the point rache drove me to the court house n told me to file, me keep the money n leave her alone. I held her n said no. 2 kids later, ups and downs in career, and countless smiles…I love the family I have built with @racheldonaire…
Apart from the marriage and in another aspect of her life, Rachel, Donaire’s wife was born on 21 June 1982 as the daughter of Gerry Herrera Marcial (father). He (Gerry) is also a part of Nonito’s team as he works as the boxer’s chief of security.
Some of her family members include Nixx Marcial-Smith and Niño Marcial David.
See Also: John Fury: Tyson Fury’s Father Was A Boxer Before He Was Jailed- 10 Facts
Nonito and His Wife are Parents of 2 Boys
Rachel Marcial and Nonito Donaire are parents of 2 boys – Jarel Donaire and Logan Donaire.
Jarel is the first child of the couple and he was born on July 16, 2013, and is 12 years old. He is a regular on his parents’ social media pages and is also exposed to training at the gym.
The couple’s second child is Logan Donaire. He was born on April 17, 2015, and is 12 years old. Logan is described by his mother as a fighter. She narrates how both she and the young boy had to fight for their lives before and after he was born.
In her story, she recounted how she bled internally and that both her life and that of the child were in danger. They later named him (Logan) after the X-Men character Wolverine.
More about the children’s lives, Rachel reports that she homeschools them at the time of this report.
5 Fast Facts to Know About Nonito Donaire
1. In March 2011, Donaire attended a party in San Francisco. It was aimed at raising funds for a young kid who was down with cancer and had dreams of becoming a boxer. One interesting part of this is that many of Donaire’s fans attended, thereby contributing more to the ailing child.
2. At 38, Nonito Donaire became the oldest boxer to win a bantamweight world title.
3. He is the only boxer who avails himself of random year-round testing for PEDs through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA).
4. The 43-year-old boxer has a net worth estimated at $5 million.
5. Donaire’s listed height is 5 ft 7 in (170 cm). His reach is 68 in (174 cm) and his stance is orthodox.
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