After long delay, Donaire goes for history against bantamweight titlist Oubaali

Fight headlines Showtime card on Saturday

Nordine Oubaali, the WBC bantamweight titlist, and former titlist and probable future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire will finally fight after a long coronavirus-induced delay.

More than five months after they were supposed meet in a bout that had already been rescheduled, they will meet in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Showtime (10 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Their fight was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic during which each tested positive for Covid-19.

Oubaali (17-0, 12 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw and two-time Olympian from France, was supposed to make the third defense of his 118-pound world title against Donaire on Dec. 19 in Uncasville, Connecticut, but Oubaali came down with Covid-19 and withdrew.

The WBC reclassified Oubaali as a “champion in recess” in mid-November and approved Donaire to instead fight former IBF titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez, who was willing to step in short notice, for the vacant title on Dec. 19. But then Donaire also tested positive for Covid-19 about a week before the fight and was removed from the card. That left Rodriguez to instead face short-notice replacement Reymart Gaballo, to whom he lost a disputed split decision for the vacant interim WBC bantamweight belt on Dec. 19.

But because Oubaali and “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs), 38, of Las Vegas, had both fallen out of their title fight due to the coronavirus, the WBC reinstated Oubaali as its champion with the fight eventually being rescheduled for Saturday.

“This has been a very long training camp,” Oubaali said. “I was supposed to fight Nonito a few times last year, and every time I had a camp leading up to a new date. First May, then December. Now, it’s finally time to fight.”

Oubaali spent most of the past month training in Los Mochis, Mexico, a hot bed of the sport in that country.

“I had a lot of really good sparring in France and in Los Mochis, Mexico. It’s a nine-hour time difference coming from France, so I wanted to make sure I could get acclimated,” Oubaali said. “I left France on May 1 and I’ve been able to adapt to the time and the conditions that I’ll be fighting in on (Saturday).”

He and Donaire are both coming off 17-month layoffs as they had their last bouts on the same card in November 2019 in Saitama, Japan. Donaire lost a decision challenging pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue in a bantamweight unification fight in the final of the World Boxing Super Series that was the consensus fight of the year. Oubaali retained his title on the undercard by decision over Takuma Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother.

“When I got back into the gym for this fight, I could feel that the power, the speed, the explosiveness was all there again,” said Donaire, who is coming off the longest layoff of his 20-year career. “I felt like my body had time to heal properly for this training camp. I am very confident going into Saturday night.

“It’s been frustrating at times but (the layoff) has given me the time to recover and refresh my body. I feel great right now and felt amazing going into training camp. I have been able to get closer to my kids, my wife, and get closer to myself through spirituality. The time has given me a chance to heal and be youthful all over again. The layoff really refreshed my mentality and my body. I feel great. I don’t expect any ring rust on Saturday.”

Donaire, who has won titles at flyweight, bantamweight, junior featherweight and featherweight — and junior bantamweight if you count the interim belt he won in that division — is the underdog, a rare situation for him as he goes for a bit of boxing history.

“I have been an underdog a few times. It’s a challenge for me and it motivates me a little bit but do I really care about being an underdog? No, because in my career I just make things happen,” Donaire said. “It’s not to prove anyone wrong but just to prove that I am still here. All that talk just flows past me and it doesn’t get into my head. The motivation for me is defeating this guy.”

And if Donaire does so, he will make history as the oldest fighter in boxing history to win a bantamweight world title. He would break the record he set at age 36 when stopped Ryan Burnett in the fourth round to win a belt in the World Boxing Super Series in November 2018.

In breaking the record in 2018, Donaire surpassed the one set by Filipino countryman and friend Gerry Penalosa, who was a younger 36 when he knocked out Jhonny Gonzalez in the seventh round in Sacramento, California, to win the WBO belt in August 2007.

“I am still competing. I am still performing at a very high level and it proves that age is not a factor when you are healthy,” Donaire said. When you keep yourself motivated and healthy, it all counts. I am really proud of where I’m at and what I can still achieve.”

Oubaali has no intention of allowing Donaire to achieve that record on his watch.

“Nonito Donaire is a big name and he’s been a world champion in a lot of different divisions. He’s strong, but I know what he can do and I know what my strategy is,” Oubaali said. “I think we have similar styles because we both like to stand and fight.

“He’s a strong fighter with a great technique, but I’m just going to do my best with whatever situations present themselves on fight night. My strength is being able to adapt to any style. I will feel the fight out. For me, boxing is like chess. Every time he makes a move, I have to counter it. I will respond to however Nonito comes forward and make the fight go the way I want it to.”

Also on the card: Subriel Matias (16-1, 16 KOs), 29, of Puerto Rico, and southpaw Batyrzhan Jukembayev (18-0, 14 KOs), 30, of Kazakhstan, meet in an IBF junior welterweight title eliminator in the co-feature and in the 10-round junior welterweight opener, 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne Russell (13-0, 13 KOs), 24, a southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland, will face Jovanie Santiago (14-1-1, 10 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, who gave Adrien Broner all he could handle in a disputed decision loss Feb. 20.

Donaire photo: Esther Lin/Showtime