By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire will finally have his crack at current World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali on May 29 (Sunday, May 30, Philippine time).
The former Filipino champion is eager to snatch the belt from Oubaali and go back to his winning ways since becoming a four-division world champion.
The Donaire-Oubaali bout was supposed to take place last year but the French title-holder tested positive for COVID-19 causing the fight to be suspended.
Several re-negotiations did happen after Oubaali’s recovery but it was this May when the fight was formally finalized for the fans.
Donaire will look to defy father time and stain Oubaali’s perfect professional boxing record of 20-0 with 17 wins coming via way of knockout.
Entering the ring as the huge underdog, Donaire is still one of the most lethal punchers in the bantamweight division and is still considered a heavy threat to beat Oubaali.
Meanwhile, Oubaali will try to capitalize on his conditioning and outbox the Filipino, taking a page from Naoya “Monster” Inoue’s playbook.
Donaire gave Inoue probably the hardest fight of his career and is the current no. 1 bantamweight, holding the WBA, IBF, and the Ring Magazine championship belts.
If the Filipino Flash can beat Oubaali, boxing organizations will most probably setup a highly-anticipated rematch between him and Inoue.
