Nonito Donaire Jr. Triumphs in WBA Interim Title Comeback Fight

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Nonito Donaire Jr. is back with a bang.

After nearly two years of hiatus in the sport of boxing, the “Filipino Flash” came back as if he never took a rest, scoring a technical unanimous decision victory over Chile’s Andres Campos to bag the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim bantamweight title in Buenos Aires, Argentina last Saturday.

It was an anticlimactic ending to the fight after a clash of heads caused a huge cut to Donaire’s right eye that forced the match referee to stop the fight and call the in-ring physician.

After a thorough assessment of Donaire’s physical condition, the doctor prevented him from continuing the fight and left the decision in the hands of the judges.

Through the nine-round affair, all three judges scored the bout in favor of the 42-year-old living legend. Two judges had identical scorecards of 87-84, while the last one had a wider disparity with 87-83.

Despite the ending, Donaire showed he still had enough gas left in the tank and punished the younger pug with his signature 1-2 crisp combinations from the get-go.

Donaire banked on his insane reach advantage and battered the Chilean in the opening round to gain the much-needed momentum as the periods progressed.

It was evident that Donaire wanted to slow down Campos with several staggering body shots, and that paid off as the latter was visibly hurt in the second round with another connection to the midsection.

In desperation to regain footing in the fight, Campos went all out in the middle rounds and pressed inside to cut Donaire’s desired distance, but that strategy went to no avail as the clever Filipino waited for the perfect timing to throw several hook counterpunches.

Campos maintained his high-octane pace in the seventh round, but Donaire didn’t bite into the trap as he went for the cleaner and more efficient shots.

The Chilean had some moments in the seventh, but Donaire quickly waved that off with a series of thunderous uppercuts in the final 30 seconds of the round.

Before the fight was stopped in the ninth, Donaire was flashing his vintage form, connecting on vicious combinations featuring his signature jab-hook pattern that landed Campos at will.

With the huge victory, Donaire just ended his two-fight slump and improved his pro win-loss record to 43 wins, 28 knockouts, and eight losses. On the other hand, Campos’ loss dropped him to 17 wins and three losses.