Former world champion Marvin Sonsona hit the comeback trail with a vengeful split decision win over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. of Puerto Rico Saturday in the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez world middleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The 23-year-old Sonsona dropped his former tormentor in the first round and went on to win the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) featherweight title on the scorecards of judges Julie Lederman (96-92) and Michael Pernick (96-91).
The third judge, John Porturaj, saw it 96-92 for Vazquez.
Sonsona improved to 19-1-1 with 15 knockouts while Vazquez fell to 23-4-1 with 19 KOs.
In September 2009, Sonsona, from General Santos City, became the youngest Filipino to become a world champion when he decisioned Jose Lopez in Ontario, Canada, for the WBO super flyweight title.
But in November of that year, he lost the belt after failing to make the weight in a scheduled title defense against Alejandro Hernandez also in Ontario.
Through it all, Sonsona was reportedly partying hard and was neglecting his training, causing a rift between him and manager Sammy Gelo-Ani.
And just when Sonsona swore to mend his ways, he lost badly to Vazquez, who stopped him in 2:01 of the fourth round in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, in 2010.
Vazquez once bowed to Filipino world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. by split decision. Donaire’s dad and trainer, Nonito Sr., also helped train Sonsona before.
Sonsona earned a rematch with Vazquez at 126 lb after winning his last four fights, three by stoppage. Marc Anthony Reyes