Alexandro Santiago defeats Nonito Donaire to win WBC bantamweight title

In a close fight coming into the night, according to the oddsmakers, Alexandro Santiago (28-3-5, 14 KOs) earned a unanimous decision victory to claim the WBC bantamweight title as he beat the future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire (42-8, 28 KOs).

Steve Farhood from Showtime only gave Donaire a round, but the ringside judges had it much closer as they scored it 115-113, 116-112 and 116-112 for Santiago. 

During the first half of the opening round, Santiago showed Donaire a ton of respect but then turned up his offense with consistent left jabs and an occasional left hook. Donaire was using his feints early to see what the young bantamweight contender had to offer.

In the second round, Donaire turned up his pressured attack and landed a one-two combo down the middle and was scoring. Donaire used his experience to feint in spots where he felt Santiago would bite and throw the hard left hook. Santiago took some shots towards the end of the round but stayed aggressive.

Donaire landed a huge left hook during the third round that he was setting up since the start of the fight, which sent Santiago staggering back, but he did not go down. Donaire stayed composed, and when Santiago was trying to be aggressive, Donaire would land counter-shot combinations to keep Santiago honest. Santiago regained his composure in the fourth round as he kept applying pressure on the older Donaire. It seemed like Donaire was a little buzzed towards the end of the round.

Alexandro Santiago earns a unanimous decision making him the new WBC bantamweight champion

In the fifth round, Donaire was more on the defensive, hoping that Santiago would make a mistake and leave himself open for the counter-left hook. During a few exchanges, Donaire landed the left hook, which looked to rock Santiago.

Santiago had a better round in the sixth as Donaire missed with many of his counter shots. Santiago kept landing some good combinations from midrange.

A clash of heads occurred in the seventh round, opening up a cut over the left eye of Santiago. Donaire was a second too slow when trying to land his punches, allowing Santiago to land counter-shots of his own.

Santiago kept the pressure on Donaire in the eighth round, and he kept missing his shots and could not be in the right range to land his shots. Santiago used his feet well and avoided the big shots.

Rounds nine through 12 were more of the same as Donaire started to look every bit of 40 as Santiago was landing shots, and he was not reacting well to them. Donaire couldn’t pull out a vintage performance down the stretch, which cost him the decision.

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