Vision Issues Caused Nordine Oubaali To Fall Into Retirement
Looking back at 2022, one thing that went widely unnoticed is the retirement of former WBC bantamweight Nordine Oubaali (17-1, 12KO). Fans believe the devastating fourth-round knockout by four-division champ Nonito Donaire was the cause of his demise. On the contrary, his decision came from dealing with an old eye issue called diplopia, commonly known as double vision, since 2018.
CHASING THE MONSTER
In 2019, the French Olympian captured the vacant WBC title defeating former amateur rival Rau’shee Warren. In addition, the newly crowned champion put a bullseye on the back of IBF champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue. This became a highly-anticipated match-up after Inoue defeated Donaire to win the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament In November 2019 because Oubaali defeated his brother, Takuma Inoue on the undercard.
RELATED: Nordine Oubaali On Fighting Naoya Inoue: “It’s No Problem For Me!”
Ironically, during his pursuit of the “Monster”, Oubaali suffered a devastating upset defeat to Donaire in May 2021. This was a major setback as many pundits believed he would have landed the Inoue fight upon being victorious.
Fans did not know that the loss was the beginning of the end for the former WBC champion. 3Kings Boxing questioned if Oubaali would return to the sport after going M.I.A. Boxing pundits were left trying to figure out what had happened and why he was not trying to get a rematch to regain the title.
WHY HE DECIDED TO WALK AWAY
In April 2022, during an interview with Le Figaro, Oubaali revealed a secret that many fans were unaware of. He had been dealing with double vision for years! His struggles with his vision continued requiring two surgeries prior to fighting Donaire.
In June 2021, Oubaali had a third operation following the loss. At this time, there were talks of a three-fight deal leading to a championship. As the former champion was getting mentally prepared to return to the sport, he had a fourth operation in December 2021.
This was the incident that ultimately broke his spirits. Oubaali’s patience had been drained after the operations bore no significant improvement. He decided to hang up the gloves in April 2022.
“I have to admit that I no longer have the patience and I don’t want to sacrifice myself so much. So I said stop and decided to hang up the gloves.”
Nordine Oubaali – Former WBC Bantamweight Champion
By: Bo Bland
