Nonito Donaire shows that age is no factor in winning bantamweght boxing championship

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Nonito Donaire celebrates after his knokdown of Nordine Oubaali.

For professional athletes, 38 is considered to be old. Nonito Donaire surprised boxing fans with his knockout of Nordine Oubaali last Saturday. And with that accomplishment Donaire became the oldest man to become a bantamweight champion.

"There's a reason they call me the 'Filipino Flash,'" said Donaire. He beat the younger Oubaali convincingly, knocking down the Frenchman twice in the third round and finished him with a crushing hook in the fourth, showing the speed and power that made him a champion when he knocked out Vic Darchinyan in 2007 to win the flyweight belt.'

“Being at this age is really not the question,” the Filipino American champion said. “It’s about my performance. It’s the ability to grow. I believe it matters not what your age is. It matters how you are mentally, how strong you are mentally. … I believe the human body is an incredible machine. It can do incredible things if we take care of it. That’s the question, that taking care of our body allows us to be strong mentally. You’re only as strong as your mind can be.”

Donaire hasn't fought for 16 months since his listliss 12-round loss to Japan's Naoya Inoue, and it looked at that time that Donaire was ready for retirement.

During his time off, not only has he been studying his craft and keeping fit, he's been educating himself about the plight of Asian Americans, who have come under attack from racists.

Before and after his fight he wore a blue T-shirt with the message "Stop Asian Hate."

The racist attacks against AAPI make no sense, said Donaire, who lives and trains in the San Francisco Bay Area, as he took the time to speak on the issue immediately after his fight.

“I want to make the statement that we’re all one,” Donaire said in the ring still perspiring after the fight. “If we could help each other, then we should help each other. 

"Let us stop Asian hate. My elderly father is afraid to go out. Let’s stop the hate, any kind of hate.”