Sonsona Lives Up to the Hype & Wins World Title

Sonsona wins Lopez’s WBO Junior Bantamweight (115 lbs.) title via UD

Puerto Rico’s Jose Lopez [39(32)-8(0)-2] vs. Philippines’ Marvin Sonsona [14(12)-0(0)-0]

September 4 (Friday) – Rama, Ontario, Canada

Sonsona is definitely for real and it’s not just hype. The 19-year old displayed the poise of a veteran and the power of a pugilist two divisions above. It’s no secret that there’s room for improvement but at his age, his skills are definitely beyond his years. Despite not going past the 5^th round in his first 13 fights, Sonsona did not show any signs of fatigue and even went toe-to-toe in the closing seconds of the final round. A surprisingly tough chin was quite evident as well especially in the 8^th and 9^th rounds where Lopez rocked him a few times.

The 37-year old Lopez fought like the veteran that he is but experience was not enough to stop the fast rising star from General Santos City. Lopez went down in the 4^th courtesy of a whopping left hook to the temple. He clinched, recovered and survived Sonsona’s onslaught the rest of the round. In the 8^th he was deducted 2 points for low blow after several warnings. This is the first defense of a long coveted world title he won against Pramuansak Posuwan last March. A world title he claimed after 4 failed tries but unfortunately held in only a little over 5 months.

The scores are 114-111, 115-110 and 116-109. I have it at 115-110.

Due to the tremendous reception Sonsona received, especially from the large Filipino community in Toronto, he will likely defend his title also in Ontario before the end of the year. Philippine boxing seems to be in good hands if Manny Pacquiao decides to retire soon and gives in to his ill-advised political ambitions.

Updated Tally of Titles per Country

The Philippines moves up to 6^th in the tally tied with Japan. A chance to overtake Panama and Puerto Rico next week as Rodel Mayol takes another shot at Ivan Calderon and his Ring and WBO belts. That is another Philippines-Puerto Rico title fight in what is turning out to be a good rivalry.

List Rules: (1) Only Ring, WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO; (2) Excluded interim champs, WBA's regular champs (when there are unified/super champs), champs-in-recess, emeritus status champ, WBC's diamond title and whatever extra sanctioning fee driven title; (3) Tally titles not titleholders; (4) Considered boxer's country of birth NOT ancestry, naturalized citizenship nor adopted home country.

Dennis Carreon can be reached at denniscmc@gmail.com