BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Returning after a two-year hiatus and back-to-back losses isn’t for everyone.

But Nonito Donaire, 42, is as special as they come, and he summoned all of his strengths to travel to Buenos Aires and defeat Chile’s Andres Campos on Saturday in an emotional bout with an interim belt at stake that puts him back in the picture for the foreseable future. Or at least that’s what the legendary Filipino fighter hopes to achieve.

“I don’t believe in age. I feel great, strong. I am very, very excited,” said the 11-time beltholder in four divisions, sporting sunglasses to hide the consequences of a grueling nine-round bout. “I felt good. My speed is there, my power is there. There’s a little bit of rust, but aside from that I did the job.”

The job in question was a credible win over Campos (17-3-1, 6 KOs), a former title challenger who left a great impression against Sunny Edwards two years ago in his lone title shot to date. The pair engaged in a fast-paced fight right from the start, with both complaining of hard head clashes in the first round. Donaire switched stances more than a few times and this led to further clashes during the next two rounds, but he dominated those clearly and even wobbled Campos in the second episode.

Campos picked up the pace and put up a solid defense in the fourth and fifth to briefly turn the tables on the former champ, but Donaire regained lost ground in the next three rounds with a steadier pace and more effective aggression.

Finally, a clash of heads early in the ninth opened a gash on Donaire’s right eyelid and worsened his swelling in the area, to the point where he had to complain to referee Luis Pabon about his loss of vision. After a consultation with the ringside physician, the referee halted the contest and went to the scorecards, where two scores of 87-84 (in consonance with The Ring’s card) and a more generous one of 88-83 were rendered to award Donaire the win and the interim belt that he will attempt to parlay into bigger opportunities.

“This is going to be a very long chapter of my career, I am looking forward to stay here for a very long time,” said Donaire after the fight. “It’s refreshing to have a clear mind and a desire to fight again. I am here for that. I just need to keep working, stay busy in that ring and keep getting comfortable in there. I love what I do. I love boxing. I know that I can still compete. And if I can still compete, I want to keep going.”

As for his future, Donaire claims he has no names in his mind right now, even though his shiny new belt gives him the right to challenge the winner of Antonio Vargas vs. Daigo Higa next month.

“Right now I want to study the fight and see where I can get better,” said Donaire, who improved to 43-8 (28 KOs). “There are no names in my head because I still have to study what I did wrong. That’s where my mind is right now. The next step is talk to my team and see where we can go from there.”

The fight took place at the local Casino Buenos Aires, and it was the main event of the WBA-sponsored “KO to Drugs” card.

Earlier in the card, local heavyweight Leandro “The Beast” Robutti (13-7, 10 KOs) scored a mild upset when he stopped Australia’s Jackson Murray (7-1, 5 KOs) with a barrage of wild volleys in the very first round. Outweighing Murray by 80 pounds and having the hometown edge on his side was all the inspiration that Robutti needed to jump on Murray from the first bell and deliver a raw but devastating performance in which “White Chocolate” visited the canvas on two occasions. The second one was rough enough for referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. to call a halt to the bout without issuing a count.

In a junior featherweight clash, Junior Narvaez sent Denis Martinez to the canvas once in the second round and once again in the third to score a TKO win and improve to 4-0 in his first career stoppage win.

Narvaez is trained by his father Omar, a two-weight titlist and candidate to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, who had a chance to reconnect with his old foe Donaire during the weigh-in in an emotional embrace some 11 years after their title fight in New York.

In the walk-out bout, Ayelen Granadino (12-2-4, 1 KO) had to dig deep to withstand the onslaught of Micaela Lujan (15-3-1, 6 KOs) in an eliminatory clash for the WBA women’s flyweight title and local bragging rights. Granadino was forced to fight off her back foot while Lujan, a former world titlist at 115 pounds, attempted to swarm her foe with dozens of mostly ineffective punches. The judges ended up rewarding Granadino by two scores of 96-94 and an inconclusive 95-95.