Fallen French fighter Nordine Oubaali admitted he committed a tactical mistake that proved costly against Nonito Donaire in their world bantamweight title clash Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) in Carson, California.
Oubaali, making the third defense of the World Boxing Council crown, thought he was starting to figure things out when, suddenly, the roof caved in on him late in the third round.
“The first rounds went so well that I told myself that I could do even more, and the fact of being too generous against experienced boxers … we have no room for mistakes and I paid dearly for this error,” Oubaali told the French paper L’Equipe.
Oubaali was pretty successful drilling Donaire with rights and lefts in the first two rounds when the Filipino-American banger exploded with his favorite punch, the left hook, sending Oubaali down twice in the third.
Though Oubaali, a two-time Olympian, beat the count, there were still side effects by the time he answered the fourth frame and Donaire didn’t waste the opportunity and pounced on him and knocked him down for the third time, forcing referee Jack Reiss to stop the fight without even bothering to count.
The loss was the first for Oubaali, who is of Moroccan ancestry.
Prior to facing the 38-year-old Donaire, Oubaali had never been knocked down.
But as they say, there’s always a first time.
