Expert commends Donaire’s ‘masterfully crafted’ punch and approach to Oubaali fight

Renowned sports analyst Sev Sarmenta is singing Nonito Donaire's praises  following his fourth-round knockout victory over Nordine Oubaali to claim the WBC world bantamweight title this Sunday in Carson, California. 

“He looks like he was so well prepared, he was so calculating. His opponent was aggressive and fast but Nonito knew exactly what to do,” Sarmenta told GMA News Online in Filipino.

Donaire became the oldest boxer in history to win a bantamweight world title at 38. He scored two knockdowns in round 3 before putting Oubaali away for good in round 4.

“The most impressive part to me was the knockdown punch towards the end of the third round. The last one was expected, the first had preparation but the second knockdown that was masterfully crafted,” Sarmenta noted.

“I would have given the first round to his opponent just for aggressiveness. I said Nonito has to put up something here, true to form, he read the situation and came up with better punches in the second round and great combinations in the third round.”

Sarmenta attributed Donaire’s impressive performance to his fighting style which allows him to still fight at the top level even at his age. He sees more fights left in Donaire and says that the “Filipino Flash” could end up cleaning the 118-pound division.

“I think the next objective is to clean up the division before he calls it quits,” he quipped. “This is legacy building at this point.” — BM, GMA News