Ramil Macado has never met his boxing hero, Nonito Donaire.

He was in the same building as “The Filipino Flash” last April, when Donaire came to the Philippines to watch a boxing card headlined by Cristian Araneta at the Hoops Dome in the province of Cebu, but the rush of fans around him made it hard to greet the future Hall of Famer. Still, he has always looked to emulate Donaire’s style in the ring in hopes of attaining his own level of success.

“One of the reasons why I idolize him is because of his speed and counter punching,” said the 28-year-old Macado (8-0, 4 knockouts).

Now, Macado is looking to take another step towards following in Donaire’s path as a flyweight world champion when he faces fellow unbeaten Filipino Lorenz Dumam-ag (9-0-1, 6 KOs) this Tuesday at the Mandaue City Sports Complex in Mandaue City, Philippines. The 12-round bout will have the WBO Oriental flyweight title at stake, meaning the winner is likely to earn a world ranking with one of the sanctioning bodies.

Like many young Filipinos, Macado turned to boxing as a way to create a better existence for himself and his family. Growing up in the southern Philippines city of Koronadal, life was hard for Macado and his two siblings. His mother worked as a manicurist, while his father worked as a farmer and, whenever someone needed something fixed, as a carpenter as well.

Macado found his escape in boxing, competing over 200 times in a ten-year amateur career, winning gold at the Philippine National Games in 2016 and 2018, while competing abroad in countries like Finland, Thailand, Kazakhstan and China.

“One of my motivations to excel in boxing first is for my family that I need to feed and to give their needs, to give a good future to them. And to my team who are always supporting me from the day one since my professional boxing career started here especially to my manager who is always helping me,” said Macado, who is promoted by Eva Marie Arquisola.

The southpaw turned professional in March of 2022, skipping the four round level and going straight to six-round bouts and jumping to ten round bouts by his fifth outing later that year. Macado displayed a more professional style in his debut against the 2-0 John May Acope, using his range to maximize his 5’6″ to box on the outside and then squaring up later on to bang away to the body in order to force a sixth round stoppage.

Macado has always considered himself to be ready for this level of competition.

“I didn’t put in my mind [to be a] prospect ever since day one in my boxing career. I’m always thinking I’m the contender of all my fights,” said Macado.

Macado showed he was closer to contender status than prospect two fights ago, when he scored an eighth round stoppage of aggressive power puncher Eldin Guinahon last June, putting down the previously unbeaten fighter with counter punches to force the stoppage. It was the third time he had beaten an undefeated fighter in his career.

Part of what has helped Macado progress so quickly is that he surrounds himself with lots of ambitious and skillful young boxers at his gym, the ARQ Boxing Gym in Cebu City. Among those boxers are Brix Piala (9-1, 3 KOs) and his brother Rodex Piala (10-1, 1 KO), plus Berland Robles (10-0-1, 4 KOs), April Jay Abne (14-1, 6 KOs) and Yeroge Gura (8-0-1, 3 KOs). Macado trains under Eldo Cortes plus conditioning coach Roger Potot, who has worked to increase Macado’s punching power as a professional.

“Lorenz Dumam-ag is a tough opponent for him but we have prepared well and we are confident in this fight,” said Potot.

“We pride ourselves with matching our boxers with tough opponents to prepare them well for the world stage where tougher competition lies ahead.”

The 25-year-old Dumam-ag of Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines is also a southpaw and has three wins over previously undefeated opponents as well. Though he doesn’t have the amateur background of Macado, Dumam-ag has scored more stoppages.

“I know he’s a good boxer, a KO artist and it’s a good match up for us to test our skills in boxing,” said Macado, who likened Dumam-ag’s style to Guinahon’s.

A win could put Macado on the path towards a world title opportunity in the not so distant future. And, who knows? Perhaps one day it’ll be Macado who young fans and boxing upstarts are clamoring to meet.

“I’m always ready to fight, local or international. I’m willing to fight the bigger names in boxing whenever,” said Macado.

“I don’t care if that guy has a bigger name, if they give me a opportunity let’s fight at 112 pounds.”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].