Nordine Oubaali vs Nonito Donaire purse bid won by Tom Brown, headed for PBC card

TGB Promotions head Tom Brown was the only bidder for a WBC bantamweight title fight between titleholder Nordine Oubaali and Nonito Donaire, and as such the fight is headed for a Premier Boxing Champions card at some point, which is not a bad outcome for US boxing fans, as it means the fight will be very easy to see.

The winning bid was $401,000, meaning that Oubaali will get $216,540 and Donaire $144,360, with the remaining $40,100 going to the winner, per WBC rules.

France’s Oubaali (17-0, 12 KO) won the vacant belt in Jan. 2019, beating old Olympic rival Rau’shee Warren on the Pacquiao-Bronder undercard, and has since defended against Arthur Villanueva and Takuma Inoue. The latter two fights came in Kazakhstan and Japan, and the 33-year-old Oubaali still has no name value with American fans beyond the hardcore audience.

Donaire (40-6, 26 KO) still has a little, and his 2019 Fight of the Year with Naoya Inoue helped, even in defeat, but it only helped so much. It was a DAZN-streamed fight that aired in the early morning hours in the US, the same card as Oubaali-Inoue.

Otherwise, Donaire hasn’t been on a truly major American card in quite a long time now, since the Pacquiao-Vargas card in Nov. 2016. At 37, his name has faded a bit, though he obviously remains a highly-competitive bantamweight at the top levels, and Oubaali is a fine fighter, too.

In short, this is a really good fight that was available on a purse bid budget because it’s not really a big draw anywhere. But it’s a really good fight, let’s make that clear, and those hardcore fans will no doubt be looking forward to it. If you’re not one but you’re reading this, you should also be excited, because this could be a banger.