Donaire lost the WBC belt last June to Naoya Inoue, who then moved up to the heavier weight class. The Philippine Flash was originally supposed to fight Jason Moloney, but the Australian chose to go for the WBO line. Ultimately, the choice fell on Alexandro Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KOs), known mainly for his loss to Gary Antonio Russell.
The fight for the vacant WBC bantamweight belt will take place on July 15, and the main event of the evening on Showtime will be the fight between undefeated lightweights Frank Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) and Artem Harutyunyan (12-0, 7 KOs).