Nonito Donaire has once again defied Father Time.

The Filipino flashed his vintage form and wrested the World Boxing Council bantamweight title from Nordine Oubaali with a fourth-round knockout win in California on Saturday, May 29 (Sunday, May 30, Manila time).

Donaire became the oldest fighter to be crowned as a bantamweight world champion at 38 years old as he put on a masterclass against the erstwhile unbeaten French boxer.

The end began for Oubaali as Donaire floored him with a nifty left hook with 45 seconds left in the third round.

Oubaali got back on his feet but found himself on the canvas again following another left hook to the head from Donaire just as the bell rang to end the third round.

Although dazed from his second knockdown, Oubaali convinced the referee to allow him to continue the fight in the fourth round.

Donaire, however, had no plans of prolonging the bout as he sent Oubaali to the ground for the third time with a solid left blow to the body with 1:15 minutes left in the fourth round, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

“The king has returned,” said Donaire, who improved to 41-6 (27 knockouts).

With the win, Donaire solidified his bid for a rematch against Japanese Naoya Inoue, who holds the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation bantamweight belts.

Donaire lost to Inoue in November 2019 via unanimous decision.

But first, Inoue will have to defend his titles against Filipino Michael Dasmariñas in June.

Oubaali dropped to 17-1. – Rappler.com