Nonito Donaire will make his ring return on Dec. 12 when he tries to wrest the WBC bantamweight crown from undefeated Frenchman Nordine Oubaali on US soil.
The title bout is slated without fans at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut and will serve the last of a nine-card schedule announced by Showtime Boxing.
Donaire, 37, has not fought since losing the WBA super bantamweight belt to Japanese Naoya Inoue in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in Saitama in Nov. 2019.
The man nicknamed “The Filipino Flash” is eyeing his seventh world title, but oddsmakers are likely to make Donaire the underdog against the younger Oubaali.
Oubaali, aged 33, turned pro in 2014 after an amateur career that included two Olympic stints as a light flyweight.
He has won all 17 fights, with 12 coming by way of knockout, and wrested the WBC belt with a unanimous decision win over American Rau’shee Warren during the Manny Pacquiao-Adrian Broner undercard in Jan. 2019.
Oubaali has defended the title twice with victories over Filipino “King Arthur” Villanueva (corner retirement) and Japanese Takuma Inoue (unanimous decision).
Donaire, with a record of 40 wins and six losses with 26 KOs, will make his first US fight since stopping American Stephon Young during his first defense of the WBA super bantam title in April 2019.