Nonito Donaire: record, next fight and profile →
WBC Bantamweight World Champion Nordine Oubaali and future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire will meet in a long-awaited championship showdown on Saturday, May 29 headlining action live on SHOWTIME® in a Premier Boxing Champions event from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
By Cliff Rold - Last July, Showtime dropped a grenade in the just rippling lake of pandemic era boxing with a slate of mostly excellent fights meant to carry through the rest of 2020. Rather than announce a fight at a time, Showtime let fans and subscribers know exactly what to expect for a sustained period of time and left the ball in the court of the rest of boxing’s broadcast and streaming arms to deliver their goods.
Nordine Oubaali and Nonito Donaire will try again to meet in the ring. The oft-postponed WBC bantamweight title fight is now on schedule, with the two due to headline a Showtime Championship Boxing tripleheader May 29, the network announced on Thursday. A venue was not named in Showtime’s release, though expected to be announced in the coming days.
WBC bantamweight world titlist Nordine Oubaali and former four-division world champion and mandatory challenger Nonito Donaire have had their long-delayed fight rescheduled.
There has been a change of plans in the schedule for WBC bantamweight world titlist Nordine Oubaali, who will forgo a fight next month and look to reschedule his postponed mandatory defense against former titlist Nonito Donaire, a source with knowledge of the plans told BoxingScene.com.
The WBC has reinstated Nordine Oubaali as its bantamweight world champion, eliminating the “champion in recess” tag it had given him in mid-November after he came down with Covid-19 and was forced to drop out of a title defense against former champion and mandatory challenger Nonito Donaire.
COVID-19 has impacted Showtime’s December 19 tripleheader yet again. BoxingScene.com has learned that Nonito Donaire has tested positive for the coronavirus and has withdrawn from his WBC bantamweight title fight against Emmanuel Rodriguez. Donaire was supposed to face France’s Nordine Oubaali in Showtime’s main event that night, but Oubaali tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced last month by Rodriguez.
The legendary Nonito Donaire opens up on ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue and much more as a guest star on Episode 5 of ‘Kalle’s WBSS Hangouts’, a podcast hosted by WBSS Chief Boxing Officer Kalle Sauerland.
The final Showtime boxing event of 2020 has a new date along with its entire lineup taking new shape from original form. Former four-division titlist Nonito Donaire aims for his third bantamweight reign as the legendary Fil-Am boxer faces Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez atop a Showtime tripleheader, which airs live December 19 from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The bout is the first for both boxers since their respective runs in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) bantamweight tournament in 2019.
Boxing legends, champions, top fighters and trainers gave their predictions for the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View main event between unified welterweight champion Errol "The Truth" Spence Jr. and two-division champion Danny "Swift" Garcia ahead of their showdown this Saturday, December 5 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (photo by Ryan Hafey)