SPORTS SHORTS 143: MANNY PACQUIAO CONGRATULATES NONITO DONAIRE, OTHER GREAT FIGHTERS ALSO GREET HIM, INCLUDING FRAMPTON AND OUBAALI
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 01 Jun 2021
Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was among the many boxing personalities who congratulated Nonito Donaire after "The Filipino Flash" became a world champion once again. The 38-year-old Donaire defied Father Time in an extraordinary performance against France's Nordine Oubaali, Saturday in Carson, California.
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Donaire exhibited tremendous punching prowess, sending Oubaali to the canvas twice in the third round, and a third knockdown in the fourth. The referee waved the fight off at 1:52 minutes after the third trip to the floor, awarding Donaire the WBC world bantamweight title belt.
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Pacquiao tweeted, "Congrats Nonito Donaire on a huge KO win. The oldest WBC bantamweight champion in history. Still living up to your nickname, the Flash."
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Coincidentally, Pacquiao became the oldest welterweight champion in boxing history, having won the WBA Super belt in July 20, 2019 at the age of 40, beating Keith Thurman by split decision.
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"The Filipino Flash" grew up in General Santos City, the same city where Pacquiao also grew up. And they attended the same school. Donaire watched Pacquiao moved from one weight class to another weight class, winning titles in a record eight divisions.
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Mexican world super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez also offered his congratulations texting, "Congrats champ."
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Carl Frampton, whom Donaire defeated, was also impressed with the great performance as he tweeted, “Unreal. Delighted for Nonito.”
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Timothy Bradley also tweeted, "Amazing performance by a living legend Filipino Flash at 38 years old he is now a 4 division world champion. Congratulations champ!"
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Andre Ward also tweeted, " My brother Filipino Flash did it again ! Congrats Champion."
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Donaire also posted this on his Twitter, "Thank you thank you thank you to God, the Universe, the Archangels for protecting me, my ancestors for giving me everything needed for tonight's victory. To Richard Schaeffer thank you for always believing in me. To Tom Brown Promotion and PBC, thank you for your belief in me."
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Nonito also greeted his opponent with a tweet, "Respect, rest, recovery and prayers to Nordine Oubaali. Thank you for a great match. Travel home safe."
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Oubaali also replied in his Twitter, "I've dedicated all my life to my sport and its values. Fighting the best to become the best is an honor. Thank you
Filipino Flash for you words. Good luck for your next challenge. Inside or outside the ring, it will be a pleasure to meet again soon."
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Donaire said his victory proved that age really doesn't matter. "An 80 year old can be in a wheelchair or can be running marathons… Health is wealth," he said. "The story continues."
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Donaire now has a record of 41-6 with 27 knockouts while Oubaali got his first career loss, and now has a slate of 17-1 with 12 knockouts. Donaire is also the 11th boxer to hold a major world title in three different decades.
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“Father time is on my side,” said Donaire on Agence France-Presse. “I believe the human body is an incredible machine if we take care of it. Mentally you are only as strong as your mind can be."
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“Being at this age is not the question. It is my ability to grow. It is not what age you are, but how strong you are mentally,” he added. “I am back. The whole time I was not fighting I was learning. I am ready for the next one.”
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At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Oubaali beat Rafikjon Sultonov 8-7 in the first round preliminaries. He almost shocked local superstar Zou Shiming in the second round preliminaries, but lost in the jury decision. Zou's trip to the Olympic gold was trouble-free, as he destroyed all the five opponents easily except Oubaali.
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Zou escaped an imminent defeat by Oubaali with a tie of 3-3 and was announced winner by a small margin by the jury. It was the most dangerous fight Zou had undergone in an Olympic boxing tournament.
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Nonito Donaire's Major world titles:
IBF flyweight champion
WBC bantamweight champion (2x)
WBO bantamweight champion
WBA (Super) bantamweight champion
WBO super bantamweight champion (2×)
IBF super bantamweight champion
WBA (Undisputed) featherweight champion
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Interim titles:
WBA interim super flyweight champion
Minor world titles:
IBO flyweight champion
The Ring magazine titles:
The Ring super bantamweight champion
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At the 1908 London Olympics, five boxing events were contested. All of the boxing was conducted on 27 October. There were three rounds in each bout, with the first two rounds were three minutes long and the last one good for four minutes.
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Two judges scored each match, giving 5 points to the better boxer in each of the first two rounds and 7 to the better boxer in the third round. Points were given to the other boxer depending on how he performed compared to the better boxer. If the judges scored a tie at the end of the bout, the referee could either choose the winner or order a fourth round.
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Chris Paul recovered from his injured shoulder and Jae Crowder delivered as the Phoenix Suns established a 100-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost Anthony Davis in the second half with another injury in the groin as he fell hard. Davis finished with only six points after leading Los Angeles in game three with 34 points.
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Paul got 18 points and nine assists while Crowder hit 17 points and six players finished in double figures for the Suns, who leveled the series at 2-2 in the Western Conference best-of-seven playoff series against the Lakers. LeBron James scored a team-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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