SPORTSCLOPEDIA 40: NONITO DONAIRE ATTEMPTS TO DEFY FATHER TIME AGAIN VERSUS ALEJANDRO SANTIAGO
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 21 Feb 2023
On May 29, 2021, Nonito Donaire became the oldest boxer to win a bantamweight world championship at age 38 and Donaire made history when he defeated French-Moroccan Nordine Oubaali via fourth-round knockout to capture the WBC bantamweight title and become a three-time bantamweight world champion. Now he is out the defy Father Time again and break his own record at age 40.
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The amazing four-division world champion has been knocking out opponents much younger than him in the past years, and only recently lost his title in a rematch to Naoya Inoue, who is considered by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.
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After he became an undisputed world bantamweight champion last year, the legendary undefeated Japanese decided to relinquish all his title belts and move up to the higher super bantamweight division.
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The four sanctioning boxing bodies negotiated qualifiers and vacant title fights at the bantamweight division, and Donaire will be given another chance at winning a world title once again.
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Donaire is the WBC number one ranked bantamweight contender and Mauricio Sulaiman announced that they have given approval to have the veteran Filipino fighter get a crack at the WBC vacant title.
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Donaire will battle Mexico’s Alejandro Santiago for the vacant belt as he seeks to give himself a chance to reset his own record as the oldest boxer to win a bantamweight title. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed this proposal to ESPN Knockout.
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Fellow Filipino Reymart Gaballo will face Thailand’s Nawaphon Kaikanha in a fight that will most probably determine the next challenger for the WBC belt.
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Donaire is 42-7 and his next opponent, Santiago, is only 27-years-old and is fresh from a stoppage win over American Antonio Nieves, improving his professional record to 27-3-5 with 15 KOs.
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Santiago lost to American Gary Antonio Russell by majority decision on November 27, 2021 at Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Santiago was also defeated by fellow Mexican Johnny Michel Garcia by split decision on November 15, 2014. He also lost to another countryman Hector Flores Calixto on December 21, 2013.
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Santiago of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico had won 11 of his last 12 bouts to become the No. 4 WBC bantamweight contender. Before that streak, Santiago settled for a split draw with former Filipino world champion Jerwin Ancajas in their September 28, 2018 match for the IBF super flyweight title.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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