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November 5, 2016 Nonito Donaire vs Jessie Magdaleno at Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada for the WBO World super bantamweight title

Jessie Vargas takes away Nonito Donaire’s WBO super bantamweight title in Vegas Las Vegas boxer Jessie Magdaleno has proved to be a king in the ring by defeating Nonito Donaire in a gruelling Saturday night fight. Magdaleno snatched the Filipino’s WBO super bantamweight title away from him in a packed Thomas and Mack Center arena.

A unanimous decision win

The 24 year old American boxer was declared the winner by the judges’ unanimous decision after a tough fight that lasted well into the 12th round. The final scores of the night were 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110 in favor of the youngster.

Magdaleno nearly sanked to Donaire in the 10th and 12th rounds but he tried his best and survived the powerful punches that came his way.

A poor start for Donaire

Judging from his spirited and stellar performance in the final rounds of the fight, the 33 year old Donaire could easily have garnered victory over Magdaleno Saturday night. It was however his poor start that cost him the win. His performance in the final rounds was impressive but by that time, his opponent was already higher in the judges’ scorelist thanked to his stellar first half and bit of second half display.

The Filipino ace didn’t really start to come at his Las Vegas based opponent until around the 10th round. The 5 division champion gathered momentum in the 10th round after struggling to survive a flurry of punches from Magdaleno in the 8th and 9th rounds. Magdaleno had cornered Donaire at the ropes in the 9th round after landing him an accurate right hook. A sharp jab from Magdaleno in the 8th round had also seen Donaire’s eye begin to swell.

The finishing rounds were certainly Donaire’s. The Filipino Flash came aggressively at Magdaleno in the 10th round and dealt him a right hand to the head that nearly had him out of balance. He didn’t give the southpaw fighter any rest after that right hand. He relentlessly pursued him around the ring in the 11th round and landed him succession after succession of body shots. He also dealt Magdaleno a hard right hand to the head in the 12th round before match was waved off and the American declared victor by decision.

Magdaleno’s performance

Magdaleno put up an impressive display Saturday night especially in the opening rounds through to round 8. He had accurate punches, nice counter punches and excellent footwork. He at one point even put up a rare show by hurling Donaire a left uppercut and a right hook while moving backwards. Magdaleno’s punches were totalling to 125 against Donaire’s 101 ones at the end of the night.

An unpredictable battle

Prior to fight between the two stars, most boxing pundits had predicted that either of the two could carry the night at the Las Vegas, Nevada based arena. They were basing their argument on Magdaleno’s unbeaten performance and thirst for victory and also on Donaire’s experience and previous title wins. Magdaleno was described as a young lion eager for victory.

In the last press conference before the match, the younger Magdaleno had told his older counterpart to prepare to bring out his A game as he, Magdaleno, was going to rip his head off. Well, he indeed did show Donaire that he meant business through his amazing display and final win Saturday evening. This win improves Magdaleno’s ranking to (24-0, 17 KOs) and brings Donaire’s career losses to four. Donaire is currently ranked (37-4, 24 KOs).

Donaire’s career affected

The loss against Magdaleno doesn’t spell good for Donaire’s boxing career. It infers that his form is dipping. This is one of his recent losses in major matches. He has in the past also lost major matches against Guillermo Rigondeaux and Scott Quigg. Following his defeat, a section of boxing followers on social media are even already calling on the Filipino sportsman to hung up his boxing boots. It remains to be seen what will be next for him.

Meanwhile, Magdaleno is happy with his win and has said he hadn’t expected to come out victorious over Donaire. The Saturday win will certainly catapult the young boxer’s career.