It was a good fight in the early rounds but Pinoy boxer Nonito Donaire Jr. fell short on his bid to become the oldest world bantamweight champion after bowing to Mexican Alexandro Santiago on Saturday night (Sunday morning in the Philippines) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The former four-division world boxing champion fell short after a unanimous decision loss to the much younger and shorter Santiago who took home the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight belt, 115-113, 116-112, 116-112.
Both fighters exchanged powerful punches in the early going, but the Pinoy pug struggled to keep in step with the Mexican unloading more solid jabs.
Santiago suffered a cut midway in the match after an accidental headbutt, which Donaire took advantage with his limited counter punches and allowed him to steal some rounds from the Mexican foe.
But with a sense of urgency, Santiago regained his form from nine round onwards before playing for safety in the 12th and final round to become a world champion.
Following a hurting loss, the 40-year-old Donaire saw his record dropped to 42-8-0 win-loss-draw, including 28 victories by way of stoppages, while Santiago improved to 28-3-5 with 18 KO victories.
Meanwhile, a quest for another win was a failure for Negrense boxer Aston Palicte after he was defeatedby Mexican Jose Salas Reyes in the fourth round.
The Bago City, Negros Occidental-native Palicte seemed uninterested in the bout as he was not literally punching against the extra agressive Reyes, who was unloading punch after punch against his taller foe.
With Reyes peppering more punches on the Filipino fighter, referee Robert Hoyle stepped in to end the match at the 1:30 mark.
The Negrense Palicte saw his record dropped to 28-6-1 win-loss-draw ring record, including 23 victories by way of stoppages, while Reyes maintained his perfect 13-0-0 win-loss-draw slate, with 10 knockout wins.IMT Sports
