Donaire beats Vasquez to win fourth world title

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino ring superstar Nonito Donaire, Jr. claimed another world title in a fourth weight division but was taken to the limit before pounding out a split decision victory over Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. of Puerto Rico to clinch the WBO super bantamweight championship yesterday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

While judges Levi Martinez and Don Trella both scored the bout 117-110 for Donaire, Ruben Garcia surprisingly had it 115-112 for Vasquez, thus, the split verdict.

After a tentative first two rounds where the two fighters seemed to have shown respect for each other, Donaire started to work his way in the third where he brought the crowd on their feet when he pinned the Puerto Rican against the neutral corner. He unleashed a flurry of punches but could not sneak in one solid blow because of his foe’s clamshell defense.

As in the early goings, rounds four and five were uneventful. Vasquez’s brightest moment came in round six when he connected solid shots to the face of Donaire although the latter countered well.

A low blow by Donaire halted the bout temporarily in round seven. As the fight resumed, Donaire scored on an uppercut, but Vasquez answered with two consecutive head shots.

Donaire, the world’s fourth best pound-for-pound fighter after Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Sergio Martinez, kept on pressing the attack in round eight where he rocked Vasquez with big hits to the head and body.

In round nine, Donaire became more aggressive, hitting Vasquez with a powerful uppercut to the chin and followed it up with a hard left hook that sent the Puerto Rican down at the seat of his pants. A smiling Vasquez quickly got up, seemingly unfazed by the knockdown.

As the10th round started, Donaire already sustained a swollen right eye and Vasquez had a swollen left eye, but this not deter the two protagonists to engage in an intense battle.

Vasquez cornered Donaire against the ropes, but the Fil-Am warrior landed a series of head shot to end the round.

Donaire and Vasquez mounted a furious attack against each other in the final two rounds but neither of them could finish things off. They both raised their hands moments after the final bell rang, drawing cheers from the crowd.

When he removed his gloves after the fight, the 29-year-old Donaire showed what appeared to be a bloodied hand wrap. It turned out he had a damaged left hand.

“Vasquez was tougher than I expected. I couldn’t find my rhythm, and I hurt my hand somewhere between the second and fourth rounds. I could only move it a little bit,” Donaire told Dan Rafael of espn.com. (FREEMAN)