By Ryan Maquiñana

Reigning junior featherweight world champion Nonito Donaire has announced that his wife Rachel is three months pregnant with their first child.

“I'm happy with all the awards and victories in 2012, but to me, everything was nothing in comparison to when my wife told me she’s pregnant,” said Donaire, whose words were translated from Tagalog.

Donaire (31-1, 20 KOs), who was named Fighter of the Year by several outlets including BoxingScene.com and CSNBayArea.com, announced the news Monday morning on Filipino television network ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda”.

Both Rachel and Nonito had stated in the past that they would prefer a boy, but that the gender is ultimately immaterial as long as the baby is healthy.

Donaire is scheduled to return in the spring as his promoter, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, has mentioned the possibility of his fighter headlining a card in Asian gambling capital Macau. While indications are that those plans are still conceivable, the 122-pound king will temporarily step away from the sport when the baby is born, estimated to be sometime around July.

“I told my manager [Cameron Dunkin] and promoter that June, July, or August I do not want to fight,” Donaire added.  “Even if its millions of dollars, I want to be with my baby and my wife.”

Donaire has been married to his wife, a former collegiate and military taekwondo champion, since 2008.

Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a weekly column for CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.