Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago defeated former Filipino world champion Nonito Donaire by unanimous decision after 12 rounds to clinch the vacant WBC world bantamweight title on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Santiago, 27, claimed the first world title of his career by dominating the 40-year-old ‘Filipino Flash’, who was looking to bounce back from a brutal loss to Japan’s Naoya Inoue 13 months ago.
Donaire, who has held world titles at flyweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight, stayed in touch early in the clash and even rocked Santiago with a left hook in the third round.
But he couldn’t keep pace with his opponent as the fight progressed, with the Mexican unleashing a barrage of punches in the ninth round and quickly halting Donaire’s momentum as the Filipino fighter tried to pull himself away of his attacks.
One judge scored the fight 115-113 and the other two saw it 116-112 for Santiago, who now has a record of 28 wins, five draws and three losses.
“It was an honor to fight a legend like Nonito Donaire,” said Santiago, who cried in the ring as the Filipino gave him a congratulatory hug.
Although he said he was “disappointed”, Donaire, whose record now shows 42 wins and eight losses, said he thought he had more to do in the ring.
“I always feel good. I love the sport so much,” he said.
The Filipino explained that he and his wife, Rachel, who coaches and manages him, will have a conversation to ‘see where we go from here’.
