Rising boxing star Nicholas Walters of Jamaica raises his status in the featherweight division becoming the legit WBA champion (both fighters held some form of the title heading into the fight) after knocking out multiple division champion Nonito Donaire with an overhand right in the six round of Saturday night’s HBO co-main event to the Gennady Golovkin vs. Marco Antonio Rubio.
Walters and Donaire started off the bout very tentative and calculated, looking to size each other up and picking shots. Walters key strategy was to pop the jab and offset Donaire to land his big right hands.
Donaire had his moments when he momentarily stunned Walters at the end of the second round with a hook. In the third round, Donaire got overconfident and got caught with a huge uppercut that dropped him to his knees at the end of the round. The uppercut was the moment the fight changed, the power of Walters was respected by Donaire as he was cautious of trading and constantly moving back and getting hit by jabs until he the sixth round when Donaire threw wild hook punches and getting caught by a counter that sent him to the canvas. Donaire beat the count but got up with unsteady legs forcing the referee to call the fight off, crowning Walters the WBA featherweight champion.
After the fight both fighters showed the utmost respect for one another, it was a true show of sportsmanship from top boxers. Nonito Donaire was mum on his boxing career but said that he was at this best and trained seriously for this fight giving full credit to the new WBA champion Nicholas Walters.
