By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
38-year-old former four-division champion Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs) became the oldest man to win a bantamweight title by knocking out 3:1 favorite and previously unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali (17-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Starting off with the jab, Oubaali and Donaire figured each other out. Oubaali began to let his hands go in the second but Donaire swung wildly as the champ proceeded cautiously. Going toe to toe in the third, a huge left hook by Donaire dropped Oubaali. He got up, but another left hook found its mark once again dropping Oubaali face-first to finish the round. Donaire then finished Oubaali in the fourth round dropping him for a third time with a left hook, right uppercut combination. Referee Jack Reiss waved off the bout at 1:52 of the fourth.
Wow, had no idea Oubaali was so soft. That was like Nonito beating up a French child. Nonito’s great, but Oubaali is made of paper.
Donaire has crumbled most of his opponents with that left hook, only world class chins (Aka Inoe) could withstood it, no shame in that
Maybe you didn’t notice that throughout his career, Donaire has smoked champions with his left hook?
Great fight, Look forward to the rematch with inoue.
The old Flash has struck again to further solidify his HOF credentials. Can’t wait to see him in a rematch against Inoue.
Donaire true Warrior!
That was Donaire vs Montiel & Darchinyan – all these years later! Well done champ!
I thought the highly experienced Donaire would be too strong and punch too hard for Oubaali. Donaire is bigger and stronger than almost any bantamweight. He stood up to Inoue’s best head shots and exchanged with him often. The body shot was the one that hurt him.
I didn’t know much about Oubaali, but I suspected Donaire would stop him. However, he folded much quicker than I expected. Donaire is still a force to be reckoned with despite his advanced age. Great win for him and sets him up for big fights in the future.
Great assessment.
Thats right, it was a bodyshot, the article doesnt mention, that started the process.
That Referee Jack Reiss is very good ❤️ Congrats Nonito Donaire hope to see Donaire vs Inoue 2
????–that guys is trash. That 2nd knockdown should have been a point deduction on Donaire. It was way after the bell. Changed the whole momentum of the fight. He should be fired for incompetence
They both changing punches when the bell ring! Thats not intentional.
Great fight,reminded me so much of the Darchenian fight. Congratulations to the new champion. PS the last undercard fight was exciting as well.
Donaire is the 2nd greatest fighter in his nations history behind pacman, and his KO win over the frenchman sure makes p4p #1′ Inoue’s victory over Donaire look even better.
The old master filipino is an incredible fighter and incredible sportman. I always have been a big fan. This class has been an advice for Spence Jr…the other great master filipino is coming up next…
Who is that?
Good for Nonito Donaire to win the Bantamweight title, i think he learned a lesson to his previous loss that is good because he is not getting any younger so he should to step up for his boxing career, anytime from now he will retire from boxing, congrat’s Nonito, god bless you always.
Big difference in height and experience made nonito win the fight, i was for nonito since the very beginning not as filipino but as a boxing avid follower
Great performance-thought younger guy would be too much for him but Donaire dosen’t seem to get old.
Throughout the fight, you saw how Donaire was just waiting for that moment to land. At least that was the feeling I got.
Oubaali was really predictable. Also boxed far too upright and stiff during the fight.
Then I also admire how a boxer like Donaire never stresses but works calmly even if he has floored his opponent. Among many other qualities it shows his class.
The comments on this post are such garbage and deliberately ignoring the truth about this fight. nonito looked to be two weight classes bigger than oubaali. i am a nonito fan, but even i couldnt ignore the huge discrepancy in size. oubaali lost to a featherweight…not a bantam.
The truth is Donaire made it in the weigh in, now where is the discrepancy there. If Ouballi is truly a great boxer, it doesn’t matter if he is giving away a few inches or pounds. What about their age discrepancy? Does it matter?
So what are you saying?
That weigh-ins should be the morning of fight day?
If so, I agree.
I love the Filipino Flash !!
Yesss!!!
He is one of the best filipino boxer we ever had, the FLASH MABUHAY KA!
A dominant champion who has a track record of doing what he did for decades, doesn’t diminish Ouballi and his skills. I just thought that Ouballi doesn’t have that experience, so if he took the BAIT, and he did… then Donaire would have a fair chance of doing what he does best. So Ouballi wasn’t a “paper champ”- or soft, he just fought the wrong fight, against the wrong fighter. Nonito’s DEEP resume speaks volumes, there is substance in his opponents. So when you start prematurely claiming all the guys he beats are nothings (common mistake) then you wind up with the false idea that nobody in the entire sport is good, except for a couple PFP people. And I’m sure Nonito used to be in the PFP list for a while
Look at the fight again. Were those two guys really in the same weight class? Donaire looked about 15 lbs bigger than oubaali. this win proves nothing more than that boxing is a wasteland of a sport where they don’t even have rules, much less enforce the rules. if donaire had been in there with a top fighter his size, donaire would have really struggled. He was lucky oubaali was just so much smaller.
Donaire and Pacquiao
The 2 best P4P period?
Come on Manny you can beat that American ps what’s his name. Lol