Oubaali wins by TKO, defends bantamweight title

Nordine Oubaali successfully defended his WBC bantamweight title, dominating Arthur Villanueva with a sixth-round TKO victory Saturday in Astana, Kazakhstan.

From the onset, the hard-nosed Oubaali (16-0, 12 KOs) took control of this bout against the challenger from the Philippines, steadily outworking his opponent and fighting with more vigor and intensity.

Boxing from the southpaw stance, Oubaali came forward with hard, fast punches and Villanueva didn’t offer much resistance throughout the contest.

In the sixth round, Villanueva (32-4-1, 18 KOs) was sent to the canvas from a two-punch combination which was punctuated by a right hook. After he rose to his feet, Villanueva was hit with another barrage of punches from Oubaali before the end of the round.

Villanueva’s corner stopped the fight before the start of the seventh round.

It was Oubaali’s first defense of the title that he captured by defeating Rau’shee Warren back in January on the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner undercard in Las Vegas.