Donaire stops Nishioka and Rios KO’s Alvarado in a slug fest!

Nonito Donaire (29-1,18 KOs) successfully defended his WBO super bantamweight strap, stopping Toshiaki Nishioka (39-5-3, 24 KOs) at 1:54 of the ninth round on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Donaire fought a slow calculated fight and despite the booing crowd, he never broke from the game plan. The “Filipino Flash” pressed the action while Nishioka waited… and waited… and waited for the perfect opportunity to counter. In the sixth round Donaire turned the boos to cheers when he landed a left hook to the body and a short left hook between the guard that sat Nishioka down on the canvas. Donaire would end it three rounds later, just as Nishioka was getting into the fight. The Japanese fighter was on the offensive and had Donaire pinned against the ropes but three right jabs from the southpaw stance left a perfect opening for a straight right hand and Donaire pounced on the opportunity. He connected right on the button and sent Nishioka crashing to the canvas. Nishioka would manage to get to his feet by the count of six but was clearly hurt. Referee Raul Caiz would allow him to continue but before Donaire could get off another shot, Nishioka’s corner stepped in and saved their fighter. Official time was 1:54 of the ninth round.

“Nishioka is a great fighter that’s why we were kind of weary about it. We know we can end the fight with one punch and that’s what happen. We just didn’t want to make that mistake. If we made that mistake he would get us but he made the mistake and I got him with the right” said Donair “When you do engage, you open up yourself and Nonito is a surgeon. I pick them apart and then the demolition man comes in and knocks them out”

In an all out slug fest, Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (31-0-1, 21 KOs) scored an impressive seventh round TKO stoppage over a tough “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KOs).. It was all action from the opening bell with both fighters landing thunderous blows to the head and body. Alvarado seemed to be controlling the offense from the outside while Rios worked the inside. By the seventh round, the fight was extremely close. Alvarado seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges and looked to be edging the rounds but midway through the round Rios unleashed a right hand that rocked Alvarado. A few follow up shots while a hurt Alvarado retreated to the ropes had referee Pat Russell stepping in to save the defenseless Alvarado.

“Mike Alvarado hits hard, he tested my chin but I handled it and I’m ready for the next guy” said Rios who stepped up in weight “I have power that followed me up to 140, It’ll follow me up to 147, It’s just going to take me a little bit longer (to get the bigger guys out of there).”

“I was still getting warmed up, I kind of got reeled in to a slugging match” said Alvarado who suffered his first loss “The fight went the way it had to go. I went in there to fight my fight but it is what it is. He shook me up a little bit but I thought it was stopped too early. I could have kept going and I would’ve got my head back and fought through it”

With the win, Rios is now in line to fight the winner of Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez 4.

“Mike Alvarado hits harder than (Pacquiao and Marquez) and he’s tougher. Pacquiao is an in-and-out guy but like Julio Cesar Chavez taught me, break the body and the head will fall down” said Rios.

On the undercard, 

Unbeaten featherweight Evgeny Gradovich (14-0, 7 KOs) scored a wide unanimous decision over veteran Jose Angel Baranza (35-24-2, 27 KOs) after eight rounds. The wild throwing Baranza had his moments but in the end it would be all Gradovich in a dominate performance, earning scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 80-72.

Unbeaten Jose Benevidez Jr. (17-0, 13 KOs) survived some scary moments in the final round to pull out a unanimous decision over Pavel Miranda (19-7-1, 10 KOs) after eight rounds. Benavidez had controlled the entire fight with a long left jab and quick left hook but in the eighth round Miranda was able to connect with a left hook that shook up the Phoenix AZ. Fighter and had him holding on. Though Benavidez was on shaky legs and stumbling, Miranda was unable to finish off the unbeaten prospect. Benavidez would survive the round and go on to hear all three judges call out scores of 79-73 in his favor.

In an all out war between lightweights, unbeaten Jose Roman (14-0, 11 KOs) and Javier Garcia (8-2-1, 7 KOs) battled to a three round technical draw. Garcia scored a knockdown in the opening round, landing a left hook that sent Roman to the canvas for an eight count. Roman would return the favor in the second, landing a left hook-right hand combination that sat Garcia down on the canvas and nearly through the ropes. Garcia, on shaky legs would survive the round and the two would go toe-to-toe in the third. Garcia would suffer a cut over his left eye in the third and was not allowed to answer the call for the forth round. Referee Pat Russell would call a halt to the action at the request of the ringside physician due to the cut, ruling the bout a draw since it did not go the minimum of four rounds.

Light heavyweight Trevor McCumby (7-0, 7 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a first round stoppage of Eliseo Durazo (4-3, 1 KO). A series of right hands to the head and body had Durazo on shaky legs and a left hook put him down for the count. A follow up flurry moments later put him on the canvas and unable to continue according to the referee who immediately stepped in to call it off at 1:40 of the opening round.

In the final fight of the night, Vic Pasillas (3-0, 2 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Jazzma Hogue (2-3-1) after four rounds. Pasillas dominated the action and easily cruised to the 40-36 decision.