Donaire opted for a slow opening round with occasional jabs until the third round as he tried to gauge Magdaleno’s fight strategy. Her started to score in the fourth round after lagging behind up to the third round.
Donaire tried to make his presence felt when he landed a series of straight rights in the fourth round that resulted in a cut on Magdleno’s left eyebrow.
It was a short-lived flurry from Donaire as he was outboxed by Magdaleno from the fifth round onward to the eighth round. In the ninth round, Magdaleno caught donaire with a left counter that sent the “Filipino Flash scampering” for safety.
Magdaleno was ahead on points up to the ninth round and Donaire must have realized he was behind in the scorecards. He then started coming forward to recoup from his earlier point deficits. He appeared successful in the tenth up to the last round but his efforts were not enough to offset the difference in the early rounds.
One judge scored the fight 118-110 for Magdaleno while the two judges had it 116-112 also in favor of Magdaleno.
Donaire’s trainer Ismael Salas disputed the judges’ verdict saying the fight was clearly won by Donaire.
“I don’t understand scoring anymore. We clearly won the fight,” Salas said according to a Top Rank official.
Donaire’s loss to Magdaleno ended his four fight winning streak following he devastating loss to Nicholas Walters in 2014
With the win, Magdaleno maintained his unblemished career record and captured the WBO welterweight title. It is the first major title fight he won since turning pro in 2010.
Donaire’s career record dropped to 37-4 with 24 knockouts after losing to Magdaleno.
