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Santiago earns decision win over Donaire for vacant WBC bantamweight title

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Mexico" s="" Alexandro="" Santiago="" takes="" on="" former="" four-division="" champion="" Nonito="" Donaire="" Saturday.="" Photo="" by="" Esther="" Lin="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/30/20230730-donaire1.jpg"/><figcaption>Mexico&#x27;s Alexandro Santiago takes on former four-division champion Nonito Donaire on Saturday. <em>Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LOS ANGELES, United States - Mexico&#x27;s Alexandro Santiago earned a unanimous 12-round decision over former four-division champion Nonito Donaire on Saturday to claim the vacant World Boxing Council bantamweight world title.</p><p>Santiago, 27, claimed the first world title of his career as he denied the 40-year-old &quot;Filipino Flash,&quot; who was aiming to rebound from a brutal second-round knockout loss to Japan&#x27;s Naoya Inoue 13 months ago.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/29/23/boxing-donaire-looks-to-defy-father-time-in-santiago-bout">Boxing: Donaire looks to defy Father Time in Santiago bout</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/07/22/inoue-outguns-donaire-stops-filipino-flash-in-2-rounds">Boxing: Inoue outguns Donaire, stops &#x27;Filipino Flash&#x27; in 2 rounds</a></li></ul><p>Donaire, who has held world titles at flyweight, bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight, kept it close in the early going and rocked Santiago with a left hook in the third round.</p><p>But he couldn&#x27;t match Santiago&#x27;s pace as the fight progressed, the Mexican landing a barrage of convincing blows in the ninth round and quickly halting Donaire&#x27;s momentum in the when the Philippines fighter came out looking to land a big blow.</p><p>One judge scored the bout 115-113 and the other two saw it 116-112 for Santiago, who improved to 28-3 with five drawn and 14 knockouts.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire takes on Mexico" s="" Alexandro="" Santiago.="" Photo="" by="" Esther="" Lin="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/30/20230730-donaire2.jpg"/><figcaption>Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire takes on Mexico&#x27;s Alexandro Santiago. <em>Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;It&#x27;s been an honor to fight such a legend like Nonito Donaire,&quot; said Santiago, who was brought to tears in the ring as Donaire offered a congratulatory hug in the ring.</p><p>Donaire fell to 42-8 with 28 knockouts and said he thought he had more go do in the ring.</p><p>&quot;Disappointed,&quot; he admitted, but added: &quot;I feel good still. I love the sport so much.&quot;</p><p>He said he and his wife, Rachel, who trains and manages him, will have a conversation to &quot;see where we go from there.</p><p>&quot;But I know I felt good,&quot; he said. &quot;There were just some things that didn&#x27;t trigger.&quot;</p><p>Was that because he&#x27;s 40 years old, Donaire was asked.</p><p>&quot;I say &#x27;Hell no&#x27; to that,&quot; he said.</p><p>The fight at T-Mobile Arena was on the undercard of the highly anticipated welterweight world title unification bout between unbeaten Americans Errol Spence and Terence Crawford.</p><p>bb/sev</p><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2739895" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Mexico's Alexandro Santiago earned a unanimous 12-round decision over former four-division champion Nonito Donaire on Saturday.