DONAIRE DEMOLITION, CUENCA WINS IBF WORLD TITLE IN MACAU
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 19 Jul 2015
MACAU- Multi-division champion Nonito Donaire made a triumphant return to the Cotai Arena and sent Anthony Settoul of France to the canvas twice in the opening round.
The Filipino Flash used his left hook with lethal accuracy on his opponent's midsection. The first knockdown was a delayed reaction from a liver shot that sent Settoul on his knees. Near the end of the round, Settoul suffered another knockdown and an early end seemed imminent.
In the second, a powerful right to the head dropped Settoul for the third time. His cornermen wisely threw in the towel. Referee Atty. Danrex Tapdasan signaled the end at 1:41 of the second.
Donaire (35-3,23KO's) trained with his father , Nonito,Sr at the ALA Gym in Cebu for this bout. This marks his return to Macau after his WBA featherweight world title win against Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa at the same venue in May of last year. He would lose the title less than five months later to Jamaican Nicolas Walters. This is the 32 year old Donaire's second win since going back down to superbantamweight. He remains a force to be reckoned with.
CUENCA DISAPPOINTS HOME FANS
Ik Yang Lian Hui of China faltered in his bid to win the vacant IBF junior welterweight world title when he lost by unanimous decision to Cesar Cuenca of Argentina.
Yang was staggered and about to fall on his back in the opening round but was held up by the ropes. Referee Danrex Tapdasan ruled it a knockdown but Yang remained aggressive.
The southpaw Cuenca's lateral movement and surgical counters were the keys in this fight. He moved away from Yang's power right hand until he got caught in the fifth.
The knockdown scored by Yang gave the fans hope, but Cuenca continued to tag him as he tried to get in close. They traded hard shots past the halfway mark but Cuenca's boxing skills kept Yang at bay. Referee Tapdasan warned Yang for holding the back of Cuenca's head and in the final round, Yang lost a point for a takedown move on Cuenca.
The judges' scores - Ian Scott - 115-110, Ben Keilty - 117-108, Mike Fitzgerald - 116-109.
For the undercards - Ju Young Kwon and Zulpikar Maimaitiali ended in a technical draw in round one after a clash of heads opened a deep vertical cut on the inner side of Kwon's left eyebrow. Denis Shapikov beat Roy Mukhli by TKO in round three, Jose Ramirez won by TKO at the start of the 4th round against Ryusei Yoshida. Referee Sawaeng Thaweekoon stopped the bout after Yoshida was complaining of double vision on his right eye.
Rex Tso stopped Khunkiri Wor Wisaruth in the fourth round. Referee Katsuhiko Nakamura stopped the fight at the 2:55 mark with Khunkiri being battered on the ropes.
The Macau Kid, KK Ng used a series of hard uppercuts to deck Phompetch Twins Gym twice. Referee Surat Soikrachang signalled the end at 2:02 of the 4th round. Qu Peng won by unanimous verdict against Michael Van Nimwegen, Judges Samson Iu, Danrex Tapdasan and Surat Soikrachang all had it at 38-36.
This fight card was supervised by the Professional Boxing Commission (PBC) of China.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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