By Ian S Palmer
Former WBC Bantamweight Champion Nordine Oubaali returns to the ring to take on Ricardo Martinez of Nicaragua in Oubaali’s homeland of France this Saturday, April 29th. It’s scheduled for eight rounds and is Oubaali’s first fight since losing his title to Nonito Donaire via a fourth-round knockout in May, 2021. Martinez, who fights out of Spain, last saw action in March when he dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Fran Mendoza.
The 36-year-old Oubaali won the vacant WBC Bantamweight Title in January, 2019 when he beat Rau’shee Warren by unanimous decision. He then defended it against Arthur Villanueva by sixth-round stoppage in July before beating Takuma Inoue by unanimous decision four months later. He then lost the belt to Donaire in his next outing and hasn’t fought since. The southpaw boasts a record of 17-1 with with 13 Ko’s and obviously has some power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. Before losing to Donaire he had gone the distance in just two of his last eight fights, against Warren and Inoue.
Oubaali also captured the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight crown in June, 2017 via a 10th-round TKO over Alejandro Hernandez. He defended it against Mark Anthony Geraldo by seventh-round stoppage in December, 2017 and also has a seventh-round win over Iran Diaz in May, 2016. Oubaali stands just under 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 67-inch reach and has boxed 98 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014.
He’s a former Olympian who represented France at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China and also at the 2012 event in London, England. He lost to Zou Shiming of China in 2008 and interestingly enough he edged Warren 19-18 on points in 2012 and was then beaten 22-18 by Michael Conlan of Ireland. However, he looked a lot better as a pro until he ran into Donaire.
Martinez is a basically a journeyman who climbs through the ropes with a mark of 9-9 with 6 Ko’s. Unfortunately there isn’t much information available on him including his age, height and reach so it’s hard to compare him size-wise to the former champion. What we do know is that he’s boxed a total of 80 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. he’s got decent power as six of his 9 wins have come by stoppage, but with six stoppages in 18 fights that works out to a current knockout ratio of just 31.6 per cent.
His chin may be mediocre too as he’s been stopped twice, by Carlos Ramos in the first round in 2021 and by Cristobal Lorente in the eighth round in his next fight a year later. He’s also been beaten on points by Hector Torres, Angel Moreno, Jairo Noriega, Martin Parlagi, Florian Montels and Fran Mendoza and also lost a six-round technical decision to Ernesto Irias. Martinez has won two of his last three fights but has lost eight of his past 11.
Prediction…
Oubaali has said that he’s holding off on retirement for the time being and is returning to the ring to see what he still has ;left in the tank. He was a world-class boxer the last time he stepped into the ring even though he was blown out by Donaire, but it’s hard to tell where he’s at mentally and how the two-year layoff will affect him physically. He said he’s hoping to take care of Martinez and get another shot at a world title in the future or he’ll hang up his gloves if he can’t beat Martinez. Oubaali always had good power and boxing skills. He basically does everything well but doesn’t really excel at anything, so as long as he’s in the right frame of mind and in good shape he should be able to handle Martinez. If not, it’s likely his last fight.
