At A Glance
- Nonito Donaire suffered a split decision loss to hometown bet and reigning World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi in their bout at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo Japan Wednesday, Dec. 17.
(Boxingscene/Jake Donovan)
Nonito Donaire suffered a split decision loss to hometown bet and reigning World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi in their bout at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo Japan Wednesday, Dec. 17.
At 43, Donaire gave Tsutsumi, who is 14 years his junior, a hard time throughout their 12-round contest but the Japanese earned two of the judges' scores for the narrow victory.
The Filipino pug earned 116-112 from Robert Hoyle, while Tsutsumi made just enough to impress Leszek Jankowiak (117-111) and Pinit Prayadsab (115-113) to defend his strap.
A win for Donaire could have made him the third oldest world champion in history, next to American boxing greats Bernard Hopkins (49) and George Foreman (45).
Donaire dropped his win-loss card to 43-9 in his second bout this year, with the first one last June at Casino Buenos Aires in Argentina where he scored a technical decision triumph over Andres Campos of Chile.
Meanwhile, Tsutsumi improved his slate to 13 wins (8 KOs) with no loss and three draws.
Donaire actually went berserk in the first half of the bout, delivering big hits in the fourth and fifth rounds that evidently stunned the home bet.
But things turned around in the following cantos as Tsutsumi regained his composure and fired heavy jabs that came with three-punch combinations on the veteran Donaire.