SUMMARY
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LAS VEGAS, USA – Jessie Magdaleno utilized his southpaw angles to outbox Nonito Donaire Jr to a unanimous decision victory on Saturday, November 5 (Sunday Manila time), at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Two judges had it 116-112 while a third had it for the too-wide tally of 118-110 for Magdaleno (24-0, 17 knockouts), a native of Las Vegas.
The fight was Donaire’s first time fighting on the undercard of his fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao, who challenges WBO welterweight titleholder Jessie Vargas later in the night.
Donaire (37-4, 24 knockouts) started slowly in the first two rounds as he struggled to find the openings in his opponent’s guard. Donaire finally began to break through in the fourth, landing straight rights and opening a cut on his opponent’s left eyebrow. Magdaleno, who is 9 years younger at 24, found his rhythm again in the middle rounds, sweeping rounds 6 through 9 with his counterpunching while blunting Donaire’s vaunted left hook.
Magdaleno won his biggest round of the fight in the ninth when a left hand counterpunch while on the ropes sent Donaire across the ring, and then a furious followup highlighted his advantage. Donaire, a 4-division champion in his second reign as 122-pound champion, fought back in the tenth and eleventh rounds, and landed several flush right crosses in the twelfth which unsettled Magdaleno.
After the fight, Donaire’s trainer Ismael Salas, who was working for the first time with “The Filipino Flash” from San Leandro, California by way of Talibon, Bohol, Philippines, said he disagreed with the decision.
“I don’t understand scoring anymore. We clearly won the fight,” Salas said according to a Top Rank official.
The loss is Donaire’s first since 2014 when he was knocked out by Nicholas Walters to lose the WBA featherweight title.
Shiming claims flyweight belt
In the opening fight of the pay-per-view card, China’s Zou Shiming dominated Thailand’s Prasitsak Phaprom, scoring a knockdown in round two en route to a unanimous decision victory to claim the vacant WBO flyweight title. The scores were 120-107 on two cards and 119-108 on the third.
Shiming (9-1, 2 knockouts), a two-time Olympic gold medalist, had previously beaten Phaprom (39-2-2) in Macau back in 2014 but the rematch was ordered to fill the vacancy left when Juan Estrada moved up to 115 pounds, leaving the WBA and WBO belt behind.
The 35-year-old Shiming becomes the second professional boxing champion from China, following Chao Zhong Xiong’s WBC minimumweight title win in 2012. Shiming will likely be ordered to face Filipino boxer Donnie Nietes in the future as he’s currently the number one ranked contender after vacating the WBO junior flyweight title to campaign at 112 pounds. – Rappler.com
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