Donaire stops Bedak in 3rd round to retain world title

Nonito “The Filipino Flash”  Donaire. AFP FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY—Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. wielded too much power in a third round stoppage of Hungarian Zsolt Bedak Saturday night to keep his World Boxing Organization junior featherweight crown before thousands of spectators at Cebu City Sports Complex.

A right straight sent the bloodied Bedak down for the third time, forcing Referee Russel Mora to waive off the lopsided bout at the 2:44 mark of the third round.

Again, it was Donaire’s left hook, followed by an uppercut which opened up the annihilation as Bedak hit the canvass midway of the second round.

When action resumed, Donaire downed the game challenger anew with another crackling left hook shortly before the second bell sounded.

Donaire raised his record to 37-3, with 24 knockouts while Bedak dropped to 25-2, 8 KOs.

Despite the swift win, the five-division world champion said there’s still room for improvement and change in his style, noting that he also got hit in the jaw and saw stars in the first round.

The 33-year-old Donaire said he was too overeager to put away Bedak, who started strongly, gamely trading punches and not backing down.

“I know that my left hook is stronger than his and I saw that  I’m connecting and reading his movements,” said Donaire, who spoke in Bisayan to acknowledge the support of the crowd.

Donaire dedicated the fight to his father and trainer, Nonito Sr., who earlier predicted that the fight won’t go past six rounds if the Hungarian chooses to fight.

Inspired by the huge turnout, Donaire said he’ll train even harder to prepare for bigger fights that may come his way, mentioning Carl Frampton and erstwhile tormentor Guillermo Rigondeaux as probable foes.

Meanwhile, Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo recovered from a third round knockdown to stop Chris Avalos in the sixth and capture the WBO international featherweight crown.

Pouncing on a groggy Avalos, who was saved by the bell in the fifth round, Magsayo was landing a flurry of punches when Referee Danrex Tapdasan stepped in to stop the carnage at the 1:55 mark.

True to their word, Magsayo and Avalos went after each other every round, with the Boholano staggering the Mexican-American in the second with two hard lefts coupled with bunches of punches.

In the third round, Avalos connected with two hard lefts wobbling Magsayo, who hit the canvass for the first time in his career and was given the count.

Magsayo survived Avalos’ onslaught in the fourth and turned the fight around im the fifth when he sneaked in a right, followed by combinations to down the former world title contender, who was saved by the bell.

The 20-year-old Magsayo stretched his win-run to 14-0 with 11 knockouts while Avalos, 26, fell to 26-5, 19 KOs.

Jason Pagara outhustled and outworked Mexican Miguel Zamudio to win by unanimous decision in their 10-round light welterweight bout.

Two judges scored the bout, 98-92, while the third judge saw it 99-91.

The 24-year-old Pagara improved to 38-2 with 23 KOs while Zamudio dropped to 35-9-1, 21 KOs.

In a battle between two foreigners, Australian Paul Fleming beat Mexican Miguel Angel Gonzales via unimous decision to clinch the World Boxing Council Continental Americas super featherweight title.

The fight card was a collaborative effort of Ala Promotions, ABS-CBN Sports and Top Rank.