Nonito Donaire Dominates Jeffery Mathebula to Earn Belt

Carson, CA -- In front of more than 3200 of his enthusiastic fans, Nonito Donaire dominated super bantamweight champion Jeffery Mathebula with a variety of power shots to win via unanimous decision Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. Mathebula, a little-known fighter from South Africa who entered the bout as the IBF champion, presented an unusual challenge for Donaire because of 72-inch reach and 5'11" height. As such, he had a 4 1/2 inch height advantage over Donaire, the WBO champion. But whatever Donaire gave up in size, he more than made up for in athleticism, quickness, and power. Donaire opened the bout swinging for the fences with a series of left hooks and uppercuts from multiple angles in an effort to overwhelm his opponent and end the fight quickly. Mathebula responded by wisely keeping his right glove glued to the side of his face to protect against Donaire's onslaught. However, at the end of Round 4, Donaire found an opening and caught his o...