LAS VEGAS – Filipino Nonito Donaire Jr. fought hard but not hard enough to impress the judges Saturday and yielded his WBO junior-featherweight crown to Mexican Jessie Magdaleno at the Thomas & Mack Center here.
Donaire came to the fight confident of stretching his reign as champion in the 122-lb weight class. But he met an opponent who is younger, undefeated and just as determined to bring the title home.
Magdaleno won a unanimous decision with two judges scoring it 116-112 and the third one 118-110.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer raised the hands of Magdaleno as “the new” WBO junior-featherweight champion with a ring record of 24-0 with 17 knockouts.
Donaire dropped to 37-4 with 24 knockouts. He couldn’t believe what he just heard, and shortly after the decision was announced, he stepped out of the ring in disappointment.
He went straight to the table where the ring commentators, including Timothy Bradley, sat, and had a few words with them before heading to his dressing room.
“This is unbelievable,” were Donaire’s words on top of the ring.
“We definitely won the fight. Losing this never crossed my mind. I controlled the second half of the fight. This is hard to believe,” he added.
“I thought we controlled the fight,” Donaire said.
Magdaleno approached Donaire inside the ring after the fight. They embraced, and the new champion told the Filipino, “I have respect for you.”
The 33-year-old Donaire, six years older but a couple of inches taller, started slow and allowed Magdaleno to take the early initiative.
Donaire had problems landing his vaunted left hook at least in the first half of the fight. But he was right there exchanging and standing his ground.
Magdaleno, a southpaw, had a better time landing left straights and right hooks while Donaire, whose left hook was inches short most of the time, kept it close by using his right.