CQCU secures first UFL victory
Filipino fighter outpoints Puerto Rican Vazquez for split decision
San Antonio — Nonito Donaire took a spit decision against Wilfredo Vazquez of Puerto Rico to win the WBO junior featherweight title Saturday at the Alamodome.
Philippines-born Donaire (28-1), making his debut in the weight class, won 117-110 on two scorecards and lost 115-112.
The Filipino Flash controlled the bout despite breaking his left hand somewhere between the second and fourth rounds before a crowd of 14,120.
After capturing world titles in the flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions, Donaire proved just as powerful in moving up to junior featherweight.
Vasquez (21-2-1) went down in the ninth, staggered by a left uppercut before being dropped by a left overhand. Vasquez rose quickly, smiling as the referee came over to give him a standing eight-count.
Donaire also stunned Vazquez in the third with a left-handed uppercut to the right temple.
Chavez retains WBC title
Meanwhile, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. retained the WBC middleweight title, earning a unanimous decision over fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio.
The judges scored the bout 118-110, 116-112 115-113 for Chavez, which drew a mixed reaction from the 14,120 in attendance Saturday at the Alamodome.
Neither fighter went down despite taking continuous heavy blows to the head and body throughout the 12-round bout.
Chavez (45-0-1-1) overcame a gutsy performance by Rubio (53-6-1) despite having some trouble entering the fight.
Chavez, who hails from Culiacan, struggled to make weight for the championship bout and was arrested on drunken driving charges Jan. 22 in Los Angeles.
“He wasn’t as tough as I thought he would be,” Chavez said. “I felt good about myself the whole fight. I felt a lot stronger than him. He never hurt me in the fight. I felt his punches, but he never hurt me.”
The fighters spent most of the bout standing shoulder to shoulder, which resulted in a couple of head butts and two warnings to Rubio for low blows. Although Chavez won handily on the scorecard, many of the closely contested rounds could have been scored either way.
“He was too heavy for me,” Rubio said. “I couldn’t handle his weight. It was body to body. It was too much for me to handle.”
Chavez landed 237 of 560 punches thrown and Rubio landed 201 of 962. /ap
