Saturday night at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, reigning and defending WBA bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (40-5, 26 KOs), the four-time world champion from Talibon, Bohol, Philippines, successfully defended his title by knocking out Stephon Young (18-2-3, 7 KOs), the southpaw from St. Louis, Missouri, at 2:37 of round six of a scheduled 12.
Despite being ranked #5 by the WBA, Young had never faced anyone the caliber of Donaire. He also took the fight on three day?s notice. Under the circumstances, Young more than held his own, within limits, and managed, after a tentative opening round, to win rounds two and three. But his lack of experience against elite fighters, in addition to his lack of power, made the fight?s resolution a foregone conclusion.
After eating several combinations, Donaire concluded that Young, who played it safe for much of the fight, could not hurt him, which emboldened him to continue moving forward and cutting off the ring. It was only a matter of time until Young made a mistake. Donaire waited patiently for that moment as he softened up his opponent with body shots, left hooks and uppercuts.
After eating two more effective one-twos to start round six, Donaire unleashed a picture-perfect left hook that knocked Young down and out.
?We came in here with a good game plan,? said Donaire after the fight, ?but Stephon is a slick fighter so it was tough to come up with a good game plan. One way or another I paid for it with scratches on my right hand, but it paid off.
?I?ll take the damage to earn the victory.?
Nonito Donaire, even at 36, still has what it takes to unify the bantamweight division.
