Carl Frampton
In December 2017, Donaire came up as a potential opponent for Carl Frampton after the announcement from promoter Frank Warren. Negotiations began on December 19, 2017 between Donaire's promoter, Ringstar Sports, and Warren. On December 21, 2017, the fight was officially announced for April 21, 2018 at the SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland by Warren via the BoxNation Facebook page.