
Donaire Wins Decision Over Vetyeka Amid Controversy
Nonito Donaire overcame headbutts and a badly damaged left eye to score a technical decision over Simpiwe Vetyeka to win a featherweight belt Saturday evening in Macau, China.

Nonito Donaire overcame headbutts and a badly damaged left eye to score a technical decision over Simpiwe Vetyeka to win a featherweight belt Saturday evening in Macau, China.

Nonito Donaire became the new WBA world featherweight champion Saturday after defeating South Africa's Simpiwe Vetyeka in Macau in a fight that saw the Filipino boxing star take victory after an anti-climactic technical decision. The bout was stopped after four rounds due to an "accidental headbutt" which left 31-year-old Donaire's left eye swollen and cut. According to the rules of the World Boxing Association, if such an incident happens after four rounds, the match goes to the scorecards.

Yang Ik blitzed through Geisler AP, power punching his way to a 1st round knockout in their super lightweight bout. AP was put down three times in total, though only two of the sequences were ruled official knockdowns. Ik - a local favorite - put the Indonesian prospect down early with a body shot, then finished him off with a clean shot upstairs that forced AP's head to crash and bounce off of the canvas. The referee recognized the severity of the blow and immediately halted the contest following the second knockdown. The official time was 2:24 of round one.

Simpiwe Vetyeka is out to prove that his current stay atop the featherweight division is no fluke, while Nonito Donaire battles to make his way back to the top. The two collide for Vetyeka’s portion of the featherweight title Saturday evening at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena in Macau, China, which airs via same-day tape delay on HBO (Saturday, 4:00PM ET/PT). Vetyeka and Donaire saw their respective careers head in polar opposite directions in 2013.

WORLD Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Simpiwe Vetyeka does not mind being treated like challenger in his first title defense against Nonito Donaire, Jr. of the Philippines. Since the fight has been announced as Top Rank’s headliner for their latest Macau gig, the crownless Donaire has been cornering most of the limelight in almost the entire promotional proceeding. But the camp of Vetyeka is not complaining.

Simpiwe Vetyeka believes Nonito Donaire’s style will help him win their title fight in Macao, China, on Saturday night. The South African, who is set to defend his WBA “super” featherweight belt against the Filipino veteran, has watched videos of Donaire's most recent fights, against Guillermo Rigondeaux and Vic Darchinyan. "I believe his style is tailor-made for me,” Veyteka said this week, adding that he was confident of doing the same against Donaire that he had done against Chris John.

Macau, China --- (L-R) WBA undisputed featherweight world champion Simpiwe “V12” Vetyeka and four-division world champion and 2012 Fighter of the Year, Nonito "Filipino Flash" Donaire weigh in (Vetyeka 125.5 lbs, Donaire 126 lbs) Friday for their upcoming world title fight, Saturday, May 31 from the Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao Resort in Macau,China. Photos by Chris Farina.

Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire confronts a formidable foe in WBC featherweight super champion Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa in his quest for a world title in a fifth weight division in what is considered a day of reckoning for the one-time top five pound for pound fighter who somehow lost his way on his journey to super stardom as heir apparent to "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao. In a crossroads fight in a fantastic three championship fight card of Top Rank Promotions aptly titled "Featherweight Fury" at the classy Cotai Arena here at the fabulous Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino which has emerged as the sports and entertainment capital of the world, Donaire will strive to relive a glorious 2012 in which he strung together four championship victories in an eight year, 16 bout winning streak that earned him the coveted honor of being named "Fighter of the Year."

By Jake Donovan - It was a year to forget almost as much as the previous year was one he will always remember. The 12 months that followed Nonito Donaire’s 2012 Fight of the Year campaign saw the Fil-Am fighter lose his 122 lb. championship and then go life and death with a faded version of a former champion he obliterated years ago to announce his arrival on the championship stage. So it became as a surprise to many when his first fight of 2014 comes against an opponent who is anything but an easy out, and in a weight in which he has yet to fully establish himself. On Saturday night in Macau, Donaire will find out if he has what it takes to hang in the featherweight division, or if defending champion Simpiwe Vetyeka is too much to handle. The bout headlines an eight fight card at The Venetian Macao, a show which includes two more featherweight title fights that both promise plenty of action. In other words, Donaire can’t just simply win his fight to announce he’s back; he needs to do something to convince the masses that he is closer to the fighter who tore through the lower weight classes in recent years than the version who in 2013 appeared to have hit a wall as he continues to move up in weight.

Simpiwe Vetyeka makes the first defense of his featherwiegh title, as he takes on former three-division champ Nonito Donaire. The bout headlines an eight-fight card at the Venetian Macao in Macau, China, and will air via same-day tape-delay on HBO.