And yet another Filipino fighter has discovered the fountain of youth.
Nonito Donaire knocked out French champion Nordine Oubaali in the fourth round Sunday to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight crown at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Just six months before turning 39, Donaire scored a total of three knockdowns, the last one forcing referee Jack Reiss to immediately call a halt to the scheduled 12-rounder.
Donaire sent Oubaali to the floor twice late in the third round with his left hook, the same punch that the Filipino-American had used many times in posting some of boxing’s most brutal endings the last 15 years or so.
The second knockdown, right at the bell ending the third, proved to be devastating as it slowed down Oubaali considerably when he answered the fourth round owing to its lingering after-effects.
Sensing blood, Donaire stepped on the attack immediately as Oubaali, four years younger, suddenly became defensive-minded.
It didn’t take long before Donaire landed the telling blows that sent Oubaali crashing to the floor for the third and final time as the third man wisely called a halt to the carnage.
“Being at this stage is really not the question (about my age). It’s my performance,” said Donaire, who boosted his record to 41-6 with 27 knockouts.
“I believe that it matters not what your age is, it matters how you are mentally.”
Donaire, a four-division world champion, insists he didn’t waste time during his 18-month layoff and instead strengthened his state of mind.
“The whole time I wasn’t fighting, I was learning,” said Donaire, stressing that the inactivity worked in his favor because he took good care of his body.
“Father time has always been on my side. The human body is an incredible machine. If we take care of it, it allows us to be strong.”
Donaire thus becomes the country’s fifth reigning world champion after John Riel Casimero, Jerwin Ancajas, Vic Saludar and Rene Cuarto.
Anytime soon, Manny Pacquiao, 42, could end up being given back the World Boxing Association welterweight strap that was taken away from him owing to inactivity.
The loss was Oubaali’s first in 18 fights as his mark dropped to 17-1 with 12 knockouts and it was utterly heartbreaking as well since the two-time Olympian had never hit the deck as a pro.
Coming into the Donaire clash, Oubaali had stopped six of his last eight opponents, including Filipinos Arthur Villanueva and Mark Anthony Geraldo.
Now that he has checked off another must-do on his bucket list, Donaire is zeroing on collecting all the belts in the powerhouse 118-lb division and getting a rematch with Naoya Inoue of Japan.
“This is why I wanted to win this fight. Because that’s my next goal. The only thing I have not accomplished is becoming undisputed. That is my goal this year and my goal to get there. I want to make it happen. The next phase is getting a rematch,” Donaire said.
Inoue is scheduled to make a mandatory defense against Filipino challenger Michael Dasmariñas on 19 June in Las Vegas.
If victorious, Inoue and Donaire might end up squaring off in a rematch before the year comes to a close in a mouth-watering matchup between certified heavy-hitters.
The last time they fought in November 2019, Inoue walked the tightrope before beating Donaire on points in Saitama, Japan.
