If things fall according to plan, the newly-crowned World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr.  will meet Jorge Arce of Mexico  by the middle of the year.

Cameron Dunkin, manager of the 29-year-old, California-based Filipino, confirmed that an agreement has already been reached with the camp of Arce, the reigning WBO bantamweight king who needs to jump again to super-bantamweight to make the title fight with Donaire.

Arce once held the same WBO 122-lbs title belt Donaire now wears following a 12-round technical knockout he scored against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. during the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Sugar Shane Mosley welterweight championship showdown last year.

But the two-fisted Mexican decided to relinquish the crown and move back at the 118-lbs. division, eventually winning the WBO version with a fourth round TKO of  South African Simphiwe Nongqayi.

Now Arce, from Los Mochis, Mexico and holder of an impressive 59-6-2 record, with 45 KOs,  is eyeing to regain the title won by Donaire just this Saturday with a split decision over Vazquez Jr. at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

“Arce is next,” Dunkin said in a BoxingScene interview. “We have an agreement already and he’s got to fight Arce.”

Dunkin, ironically, is also the manager of WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who challenges Pacquiao in a welterweight title showdown this June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Top Rank Promotions chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Donaire, is also looking to pit the three-time division champion against Arce, although he wants the left hand of the Filipino star to completely heal first before he returns to the ring.

“Let’s see what happens with his hand first,” Arum said. “That will determine everything, but depending on the timing, we want him to face Arce next.”

Donaire (27-1, 18 Kos), hurt his left hand during the course of his fight with Vazquez.

“He’s going to be back soon,” added Dunkin. “Hopefully, this hand’s not a big deal and we see him back in the ring in April or something, I hope.”

But a healthy Donaire, the 2011 PSA co-Athlete of the Year awardee, is truly capable of unifying the 122-lbs division which Pacquiao once reigned.

Dunkin said also in the horizon is a bout with World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Toshiaki Nishioka and World Boxing Association (WBA) counterpart Guillermo Rigondeaux.

“We have an agreement in principle with the Japanese guy (Nishioka), so he’s got fights ahead of him,” said Dunkin. “After that, we’ll look at WBA champ (Guillermo) Rigondeaux, of course.”

That Donaire is already beginning to show the makings of a great champion is not lost on trainer par excellance Freddie Roach.

“He is already a great fighter and he has such a great knockout power and overall fighting ability, he can still get a lot better,” said Roach, who saw Donaire in action in San Antonio, where one of his top boxers, WBC middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., fought in the main event.

“I was talking with (ex-boxer) Jesse James Leija the other day, and we were saying how hard this guy can punch. He’s really dangerous and he can knock you out with one shot.”