Donaire loses belt to Magdaleno, believes he won fight

Jessie Magdaleno hits Nonito Donaire, of the Philippines, during their WBO junior featherweight title boxing match Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

LAS VEGAS—Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. failed to put Jessie Magdaleno down and yielded his WBO junior featherweight crown in the undercard of “The Legend vs The Champ” at Thomas & Mack Center Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

Though Donaire took the last three rounds, the three judges thought otherwise as they scored it 116-112 twice and 118-110—all for Magdaleno.

The lopsided scores were a surprise considering that Donaire recovered from a severe beating in the ninth to put Magdaleno on the retreat the rest of the bout.

Visibly dejected, Donaire acknowledged the crowd then left the ring in a huff.

“We definitely won the fight,” said Donaire.

“Losing this never crossed my mind. I controlled the second half. I can’t believe it.”

Ismael Salas, Donaire’s Cuban trainer, also rapped the result, saying: “We won the fight. I don’t understand the scoring.”

Donaire, now 37-4 with 24 knockouts, also won the seventh round before Magdaleno took over in the eighth and ninth where the Mexican unloaded crisp body shots.

Magdaleno, who posted his 24th straight win with 17 knockouts, started strong, beating a tentative Donaire to the punch in the first two rounds before absorbing a stinging combination in the third.

Having found his range, Donaire went on attack mode in the fourth round, forcing Magdaleno to backpedal.

Donaire’s barrage left a small cut on Magdaleno’s left eye, which was successfully closed by cutman Miguel Diaz at the break.

In the sixth round, Magdaleno landed body shots on Donaire, who plodded on in the hope of landing a big shot that never came.

Magdaleno reportedly went to Donaire’s locker room later, telling the five-division world titlist that he was a great champion.

Donaire then asked: “We do a rematch?”

There was no answer.