Nonito Donaire is questioning whether he has another fight left in him at 40 after losing against Alex Santiago in a shot at the vacant WBC bantamweight title.
Donaire faced the much smaller Santiago on the Crawford vs Spence PPV undercard. However, Santiago used his superior speed to out-point the future Hall of Famer.
An emotional Santiago captured the vacant WBC bantamweight title after twelve rounds of action with scores of 116-112 twice and 15-113.
“The Filipino Flash” was at a loss to explain why he couldn’t get going with a world title at stake.
Nonito Donaire considers retirement
“I’m disappointed,” said Donaire. “This is a blessing to do this for a very long time. I feel good still. Congratulations to Alexandro. He deserves it. He is a tough guy.
“I was trying to counter so much and put so much power into it. I tried to fight like a warrior, which was something we didn’t train to do.”
With Manny Pacquiao at ringside watching on, Donaire had been looking to break his own record as the oldest fighter ever to win a bantamweight world title. Ironically, in 2019 Pacquiao had done similar at welterweight against Keith Thurman.
However, Donaire will now regroup as he considers if he’ll continue his illustrious career.
“I love the sport so much,” said Donaire. “We just have to go back to the locker room, talk about it, and see where we go from there.
“There were times when I didn’t pull the trigger. That was my biggest problem.”
Alexandro Santiago celebrates first world title
Santiago was ecstatic with his greatest triumph on a massive stage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He took his hat off to Donaire after potentially putting him into retirement.
“It is so hard to explain this moment right now,” said Santiago. “All the work we put in for just this moment. It’s amazing to win this title.”
“It has been an honor to fight such a legend like Nonito Donaire,” he added. “He said thank you for giving me this great fight. I appreciated him saying that.”
The 27-year-old came in as the underdog against the four-division champion. But he consistently beat Donaire to the punch with various jabs, straight rights, and left hooks.
Donaire was able to land his signature power left hook at several moments throughout the fight. However, Santiago hung tough and never showed any sign of being hurt.
The two fighters each landed 130 punches over the 12 rounds, with Santiago owning a slight edge in power punches landed (62-53).
Donaire out-landed Santiago in the first six rounds before Santiago took control of the fight’s second half.
Santiago won the last six rounds on one card, five on another, and four on the final six on the third card.
An emotional Santiago broke down in tears after he was announced as the winner. Ever the gentleman, he also received encouragement from the defeated Donaire.
