Nonito Donaire still has it, knocking out the previously unbeaten Reymart Gaballo.
Nonito Donaire has successfully fended off Father Time for now at least.
While conventional belief is that people’s fighting primes are younger in the lighter weight classes as it relies on speed and reaction times, Donaire continues to buck that trend. Already the oldest bantamweight champion in history, the 39-year-old defended his WBC belt against a fellow Filipino in Reymart Gaballo.
Gaballo is much younger at 25, and grew up idolizing Donaire and building a 24-0 record with 20 KOs to boot. It started off as a close and technical affair, but Donaire landed a picture perfect liver shot that finished the contest in the fourth round.
Watch highlights of the contest, along with video of the finish below:
THE RENAISSANCE CONTINUES! @filipinoflash retains his WBC bantamweight title with a powerful body shot #DonaireGaballo pic.twitter.com/B2FN9oC7tO
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 12, 2021
With the win, the four-division champion in Donaire improves to 42-6, impressively winning four title fights in his last five outings. His only loss in that stretch was 2019’s fight of the year with pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue, who he has now called out again.