FATHER Time has really caught up with Nonito “The Flash” Donaire Jr.
Fighting in what could be his last stab at a world title, Donaire, 40, lost to a fast and scrappy Alexandro Santiago of Mexico by unanimous decision in their battle for the vacant World Boxing Council bantamweight title early yesterday morning (Saturday night in the US) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Surviving a cut in the seventh after an accidental head butt, Santiago won the nod of judges Max de Luca, Chris Migloire and Steve Weisfeld, who scored it 115-113, 116-112 and 116-112, leaving the Mexican in tears after the decision was announced.
In absorbing his eighth loss in 50 fights, winning 42 of them by knockout, Donaire, failed in his bid to become the oldest world bantamweight champion, an outcome that could finally force him to contemplate retirement after an illustrious career, second only to Pinoy ring icon Manny Pacquiao.
He had not fought in over year since suffering a second-round knockout at the hands of Japanese “Monster” Naoya Inoue in their unification title fight held on June 7, 2022 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Donaire and Santiago fought for the title vacated by Inoue, who is now fighting in the 122-pound division.
Picking up his 28th win (14 KOS) against five draws and three defeats, Santiago, 27, finally clinched a world title after an unsuccessful bid to wrest the title from former International Boxing Federation super flyweight king Jerwin Ancajas three years ago at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, a fight that ended in a split decision.
The Donaire-Santiago clash served as the main supporting bout of the Terrence Crawford-Errol Spence battle for the unified welterweight championship.
Born in the Mexican boxing hotbed of Tijuana, Santiago had his best round in the seventh when he landed three straight right hooks to Donaire’s head before they accidentally clashed heads, opening a gash around Santiago’s left eye.
But the Mexican recovered fast from the cut, although Donaire managed to connect in the middle of the ninth round with two left hooks and a right.
Santiago also got his licks in in the ninth, landing a right uppercut and several power punches before the bell rang.
Desperate for a knockout, Donaire struck with a jarring left hook to Santiago in the 11th but failed to exploit the brief opening the rest of the way.
