Noah Barro

After nearly two years of hiatus inside the ring, Nonito Donaire never showed signs of rusting in his return, earning a ninth-round technical decision win over Chile’s Andre Campos to capture the WBA interim bantamweight title, Saturday from Casino Buenos Aires, Argentina. 


The Filipino Flash managed to assert dominance much for the night, enough to earn an 87-84, 87-84 and 88-83, all in his favor as he improves his record to 43-8 with 28 knockouts

The bout saw a dull finish as the ringside physician advised to stop the match just a minute into the ninth round after a clash of heads that left the 42-year-old Donaire unable to see out of his right eye. 

“Sorry that this happened,” Donaire expressed of the bout ending in such an anticlimactic fashion. “I wanted to show my fighting heart and warrior spirit to the people of Argentina.

The former four-division champion’s return saw a sudden fright as Donaire suffered a head-butt late in the first round, though he kept in hunt of Chile’s boxer who also flinched due to a head smack 90 seconds into the game.

Any signs of slowing down from the 42 year-old Filipino pride were shut down fresh into the second round, where Donaire unleashed a clean left hook into Campos who retaliated with a left hook of his own just before the bell.

Time was called in the sixth due to yet another head-butt, where both fighters were reminded to keep the bout clean, as Campos assured to keep his distance against Donaire’s fast-paced boxing style.

From then, the Fil-Am boxer saw chances of scoring body shots at his younger opponent, as Campos shifted into an in-and-out movement in the eight.

Donaire attempted to arrange a draw against Campos which translated into the bout ending head-butt where the ringside physician surveyed the damage before he advised referee Luis Pabon to stop the fight.

The result breaks the future Hall-of-Famers two-bout losing streak after bowing down to the Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue in June 2022 before dropping a lopsided decision to Alexandro Santiago in July 2023 before his return. 

Campos then slid into a 17-3-1 (6 KOs) slate, facing a hump in his career after logging in 2-3-1 in his past six starts.

Donaire’s finish in Argentina keeps his last push for 118lb world title run alive as the mandatory challenger to primary WBA titleholder Antonio Vargas, 19-1 (11 KOs).