DONAIRE BACK ON TRACK WINS WBC SILVER TITLE OVER HERNANDEZ
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 24 Sep 2017
Former four division world champion "The Filipino Flash" Nonito Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) made a good comeback by winning a convincing ten round unanimous decision over Ruben Garcia Hernandez (22-3-1) at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas. The scores are 100-90, 97-93, 99-91 in favor of Donaire for him to claim the WBC silver featherweight title. This is his first match with new promoter Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports. The former No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer is on track for another world title.
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Donaire told BoxingScene that he knows he boxed very well during the match which is something he has not done in a long time. He said he moved his legs very well and maintained that tempo all throughout the fight. "I've always been an aggressive boxer but this time i used my jab and combinations. I had the urge to just brawl and I felt like I hurt him. But ultimately I did a great job showing versatility in my game," he told reporters.
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The Talibon-born California resident will analyze his fight with Hernandez to see what should be done to improve his skills. The 34-year-old Donaire said: "It's great to get the victory and get a great learning experience under my belt." It was his first fight since losing his WBO junior featherweight title last November to Jessie Magdaleno as co-main event of the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas WBO world welterweight title match.
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"Nonito was very smooth and moved around well. I couldn't get to him because of that. He adjusted to everything I did. It was a fair decision at the end of the night," Garcia Hernandez admitted. He thinks Donaire will brawl him but changed the strategy. The Mexucan said he fought hard and will work hard to get back in the ring.
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Donaire wants to become the undisputed featherweight champion of the world. The featherweight champions are Gary Russell Jr. (WBC), Leo Santa Cruz (WBA), Lee Selby (IBF) and Oscar Valdez (WBO). Donaire became the WBA featherweight titleholder in 2014 when he defeated Simpiwe Vetyeka by technical decision but lost the belt in his first defense against the then undefeated Nicholas Walters.
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The main event of the Donaire-Hernandez match is a battle of heavy punchers as WBA cruiserweight world champion Yunier "The KO Doctor" Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs) batters challenger Dmitry "The Russian Hammer" Kudryashov (21-2, 20 KOs) in two rounds. Fearsome exchanges of bombs were displayed by the two protagonists since the opening bell. They continued to trade booming blows in the second stanza as Dorticos shook Kudryashov with an explosive right hook that knock him down and nearly out cold. The fight was stopped before the referee could finish the count.
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Jack Tepora is setting his sights on the division giant none other than WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez who recently defended his title against previously unbeaten Genesis Servania. ?I?m always ready. I don?t get ready, I stay ready. My manager and my coaches will decide on who I fight. I?ll fight anyone they place in front of me especially Oscar Valdez,? Tepora was quoted by SunStar Cebu.
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Omega Pro Sports International president Pio Paulo Castillo thinks Tepora is ready for a world title. He said his camp does not know yet what?s next for their fighter because they want to savor first the sweet victory. They would want to sit down with Tepora for his next fight because they would always involve their fighters in charting their directions and in deciding which one to take. "At the end of the day, it is their career. As for me, i would like him to fight for the world title,? said Castillo
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Romero Duno won an eight round unanimous decision over Juan Sanchez (29-14, 14 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight bout at The Forum, Los Angeles, California. Duno (15-1, 13 KOs) became known when he knocked out Christian "Chimpa" Gonzalez earlier this year, connected with the more-telling blows in most of the fight over Sanchez. All three judges scored the bout 78-74 in favor of Duno. The bout was one of the supporting fights to the Jorge Linares-Luke Campbell WBA lightweight title fight.
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"I'm satisfied with my performance. Sanchez was a tough competitor, but I respect him. I've learned a lot from this fight and am going to take the lessons I've learned onto the next fight," Duno was quoted by BoxingScene. Duno made his power moves in round 6, pressing and banging Sanchez, who also counter punched occasionally with his left hook. The Tagum City native is under the tutelage of the former world champion Rodel Mayol at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
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In the main event of the Duno-Sanchez fight, Jorge Linares protected his WBA world lightweight title by a close decision victory. Mandatory challenger Luke Campbell (17-2, 14 KOs) recovered from a second-round knockdown and fought relentlessly to give Venezuela?s Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) a hard time in their 12-round, 135-pound title fight at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Linares stole a split decision win to retain his belt. Max DeLuca scores 114-113 and Zac Young had it 115-112 for Linares while Victor Loughlin favored Campbell 115-113.
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Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez announced that negotiations are ongoing for a rematch between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, with tentative schedules in either March or May next year. The most preferred date for the rematch is the first week of May, the Cinco De Mayo weekend. Canelo does not want to fight again until May, but there is a slim possibility of the fight taking place in March.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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