A cut caused by an accidental headbutt left Nonito Donaire, Jr. unable to see clearly from his right eye and it took five stitches to sew up after he lost to Japan’s Riku Masuda on a technical knockout in the eighth round of a WBA bantamweight title eliminator in Yokohama last Sunday.
The clash of heads happened in the fifth round and in the sixth, Hungarian referee Bence Kovacs called the ringside physician to examine the wound at the 1:48 mark. Despite the handicap, Donaire appeared to win the fifth and sixth frames so that entering the seventh, the fight was dead even. Then, the tide turned rapidly as Masuda stepped on the gas. Donaire, however, stood his ground and exchanged heavy artillery until a short left dropped him late in the round. He beat the 10-count but cornerman Gabriel Flores, Sr., who runs the Los Gallos Boxing Academy in Stockton, California, seemed ready to throw in the towel as the bell rang.
At the start of the eighth, Kovacs deducted a point from Donaire as a cornerman was late in stepping out of the ring when the bell sounded. It was downhill from then with Donaire clearly bothered by the cut on his right eyebrow. Masuda, a southpaw, kept landing lefts on Donaire’s bloodied face and was relentless. A four-punch combination rocked Donaire in the middle of the ring and Flores, Sr. had seen enough. Kovacs took Flores, Sr.’s cue to wave it off at 1:12 of the eighth. The three judges had Masuda ahead on the scorecards when it ended. Judge Richard Blouin of Canada saw it 67-64 while judge Raul Caiz, Sr. of the US and Kwan Ho Jang of South Korea had it 68-63.
It was Donaire’s fourth loss in his last five fights and he remains winless in four outings, including two against Naoya Inoue, in Japan. At 43, the Filipino Flash has nothing left to prove and the former four-division world champion is headed to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Photo: Nonito Donaire (L) and Rico Masuda (R) pose during the weighin.
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