NONITO DONAIRE MAKES HISTORY, CAPTURES WBC BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD TITLE WITH FOURTH-ROUND KNOCKOUT
*Nonito Donaire* is champion once
again. Fourteen years after he won his first world title, the “Filipino
Flash” cemented his Hall of Fame credentials with a sensational
fourth-round KO win over *Nordine Oubaali *to capture the WBC World
Bantamweight title Saturday night in the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING main
event from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. in a Premier Boxing
Champions event.
“The king has returned,” Donaire beamed afterward. “I just love the crowds.
All my friends, family, all the boxing fans that came out thank you so
much. You guys are wonderful.”
The 38-year-old Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs) is now the oldest world champion
ever at 118-pounds. He accomplished it with the left hand that has been the
calling card of his career as he dropped Oubaali (17-1, 12 KOs) three times
in total.
“Being at this age is not the question, it’s about my performance,” said
Donaire. “About my ability to grow. I believe it matters not what your age
is, but how mentally strong you are. What I learned from the [Naoya] Inoue
fight is that I’m back. I can still compete at this level. The whole time I
was not fighting, I was learning. I’m ready for the next one.”
Following a feel-out first round, Donaire went to work in the second,
walking Oubaali down and countering with thudding effect. Donaire scored
the first knockdown early in the third, dropping Oubaali with his trademark
counter left hook. The Frenchman rose on unsteady legs and Donaire pounced,
landing more big shots until another left hook floored Oubaali just a split
second before the round ended. Again, Oubaali struggled to his feet, dazed
yet willing to fight on.
The end came swiftly in the fourth. Donaire expertly maneuvered Oubaali
around the ring, pinning him against the ropes where a left uppercut sent
Oubaali crumpling to the canvas for a third and final time. Referee Jack
Reiss immediately called it off. The official time of the stoppage was 1:52
of the fourth round.
“Three decades of being world champion. Nine-time world champion. That’s
amazing,” said Donaire. “I came in here and I felt really good. Today I
knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew exactly what I was going to
do. I think I was just very focused in the gym. I was very, very focused. I
just felt really good coming in and I was grateful to get this opportunity.
“Tonight was something that I had to prove to the world that I’m back and
I’m stronger than ever. He was a very tough guy. I think ultimately for me,
there was a level of should I be more patient? Or should I go for it?
Something I learned in the Inoue fight was to go for the kill. And that’s
exactly what I did. I was patient, but I knew he was hurt enough that I
could take him out.”
In the co-feature, Puerto Rico’s *Subriel Matias* (17-1, 17 KOs) delivered
another power-punching display, breaking down previously-unbeaten *Batyr
Jukembayev* (18-1, 14 KOs) until Jukembayev’s corner stopped the bout after
eight riveting rounds.
“I think this is what everybody expected. Everybody knew it was going to be
a great war,” said Matias. “This was going to end by knockout whether I was
going to get knocked out or Jukembayev was going to get knocked out. I’m
just glad it was me who knocked him out.”
Matias establishes himself as one of the best in a stacked division, but
this latest win wasn’t easy. Kazakhstan’s Jukembayev came out strong,
landing a right hook-right uppercut combination upstairs from his southpaw
stance that got Matias’ attention in the first.
Jukembayev pushed the pace in the second. Matias began letting his hands go
in the third, throwing in combination to the head and body. Both combatants
were now fully warmed up, setting the stage for a fourth round that could
be a candidate for “Round of the Year.”
It began when a hard left hook staggered Jukembayev and drove him to the
canvas. Matias sought to close the show but Jukembayev held on, cleared his
head and started landing his own shots. With a minute left in the stanza,
Jukembayev stunned Matias with a left cross. Instead of clinching, Matias
fought fire with fire, bringing the crowd out of their seats with
toe-to-toe action until the bell sounded.
Matias never stopped coming forward. Following a one-sided sixth,
Jukembayev returned to his corner with both eyes swelling shut. The back
and forth ensued in the seventh as Jukembayev buzzed Matias with two right
hooks toward the end of the round.
Matias returned to the driver’s seat in the eighth round, pounding away at
Jukembayev with both fists. In total, he out-landed Jukembayev by 100
punches (234/608 to 134 /409) and was more accurate (38.5% to 32.8%). The
accumulation of blows was enough to convince Jukembayev’s corner to request
the bout be stopped.
“He knew he had nothing to lose. He came in and was doing everything
strong,” said Matias. “He knew that all he could do was knock me out to
win. I would have done the same thing. That’s a warrior’s heart and he has
all my respect.
“After that fourth round, I mean he is a very competitive fighter, so it
turned into a war after that point. My hands go up to him as well. It was a
great fight. I definitely have had other opponents that were very good, but
this is the one that has given me the hardest test.”
In the telecast opener, *Gary Antuanne Russell* (14-0, 14 KOs) continued
his ascent up the super lightweight ranks. The undefeated Russell became
the first to stop the rugged *Jovanie Santiago*(14-2-1, 10 KOs), dominating
Santiago until referee Sharon Sands halted the contest following the sixth
round at the suggestion of Santiago’s corner.
“The objective is to get the man out as soon as possible and come out
unscathed,” said Russell. “I just want to say that Santiago was a class-A
opponent. A lot of people think he beat Adrien Broner. I want Adrien Broner
now.”
With older brother and WBC World Featherweight Champion Gary Russell Jr.
working his corner, Gary Antuanne controlled the action from the opening
bell. The 2016 Olympian worked the jab and straight left behind the
southpaw stance, snapping Santiago’s head back several times in the first.
Russell, 24, continued to land the left in the second and third. Early in
the fourth, he followed up a straight left to the ribs with a short right
hook upstairs that dropped Santiago to a knee. Puerto Rico’s Santiago
gamely rose to his feet and survived the follow-up onslaught to make it out
of the round.
“The importance to me is to execute round-by-round, and round-by-round, I
was executing more and more. My father told me to go to the body, right
hook upstairs. He was open to that,” said Russell.
Russell showed no signs of slowing despite being extended beyond four
rounds for the first time in his pro career. The Capital Heights, Md.
product battered Santiago in the sixth, landing punishing combinations
throughout the frame. Moments later, the bout was stopped.
“It’s definitely important to me to perform so I’m not just known as Gary
Russell’s younger brother,” said Russell, who landed 146 of 444 punches
(32.9%). “I come from an excellent background of fighters. We’re building a
dynasty.
“How soon do I want to get back in the ring? If I could fight on the
Deontay Wilder card, that would be great.”
Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will replay Sunday, May 30
at 9 a.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME and Monday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME
EXTREME.
Veteran sportscaster Brian Custer hosted the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
telecast while versatile combat sports voice Mauro Ranallo handled
blow-by-blow action alongside Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and
three-division world champion Abner Mares. Three Hall of Famers rounded out
the SHOWTIME telecast team – Emmy® award winning reporter Jim Gray,
unofficial scorer Steve Farhood and world-renowned ring announcer Jimmy
Lennon Jr. The Executive Producer was David Dinkins, Jr., the Producer was
Ray Smaltz and the Director was Chuck McKean. Three-time super bantamweight
world champion Israel Vazquez and sportscaster Alejandro Luna served as
expert analysts in Spanish on Secondary Audio Programming (SAP).
