WBC appoint Nonito Donaire as the mandatory contender to bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali

Nordine Oubaali ordered to defend WBC belt against mandatory contender Nonito Donaire in 2020

The WBC Board of Governors has voted unanimously to appoint Nonito Donaire as the WBC mandatory contender in the bantamweight division.

The free negotiations period has begun for the mandatory title defense of WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali and if no agreement is reached, a purse offer will be conducted on Friday January 3, 2020 in Mexico City.

Bizarrely, both these boxers fought against the same family in their last bouts.

World Boxing Council bantamweight champion, Frenchman Nordine Oubaali, defended his crown for the second time by defeating Japanese Takuma Inoue by UD, at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

In the fourth round, Oubaali sent Naoya Inoue´s younger brother to the canvas, with a hard left to the face and although he did not halt him, the knockdown proved to be a telling difference and important  factor in this fight. Oubaali was the more technical and faster fighter, using a refined style, which allowed him to overcome an opponent with less experience, but eager to be crowned at home.

On the same card, in the main event, four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire was overcome by Naoya Inoue, who claimed a points victory to win the Ali Trophy in the bantamweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series.

The three judges scored the bout 116-111, 117-109, 114-113 in favour of Inoue, in a dramatic, entralling encounter that see-sawed back and forth, with Donaire emerging as the loser, but with the utmost respect of his conqueror and the rest of the world, as he proved he still belongs at the very top.