Nonito Donaire proved last night that, at age 42, he can still do it. The Filipino great boxed quite brilliantly in his fight with the much younger Andres Campos in the fight that took place in Argentina. Donaire, a man who has won world titles in multiple weight divisions and is an absolute lock for The Hall of Fame, won via technical decision after nine rounds.
In round nine, a clash of heads, ruled to be accidental, saw “The Filipino Flash” pick up a cut to his right eye. The fight was stopped and it went to the scorecards. Donaire, thanks to his sharp and largely dominant boxing, won by lopsided scores that read 88-83, 87-84, 87-84.
Donaire won the WBA interim belt at bantamweight with the win, and he is now 43-8(28). 28 year old Campos of Chile falls to 17-3-1(6). Okay, it was far from an ideal or a satisfying way for Donaire to win, but he now aims to fight on, and a fight with full WBA bantamweight champion Antonio Vargas could take place later on this year some time.
Donaire, who always keeps himself in good physical condition, actually clashed heads with Campos in the opening round, this a warning of things to come. Campos, who was moving up in weight from 115 pounds, must have been surprised at how sharp Donaire was come the second round. There was another clash of heads in round-six, with both men being warned. Donaire, though, began to work Campos’s body in the second half of the fight and he was piling up the points.
Perhaps frustrated, Campos slung Donaire to the canvas in round-eight, with time being called and the younger man cautioned. Then, in what had been a pretty rough and physical fight, the fight-ending head clash came in the ninth and Donaire got the TD win after a minute had gone in the session.
Let’s now see if Donaire, after his eye has fully healed up, can go on and win another world title by defeating Vargas, 19-1(11). Last night’s victory was Donaire’s first since back in December of 2021.
