DONAIRE STOPS NISHIOKA IN NINE
By Scott Shaffer

Nonito Donaire TKO9 Toshiaki Nishioka... Nonito Donaire knocked Toshiaki Nishioka down in the sixth and ninth rounds before Nishioka's corner stopped the junior featherweight contest, giving Donaire a victory via ninth-round technical knockout. In the ninth round, Nishioka was doing good work, and had Donaire backed against the ropes, when Donaire landed a straight counter that not only decked Nishioka, but had him shaken up. Nishioka got up and resumed fighting, but his corner waved the surrender flag as Donaire landed a final punch. Although he status of the various alphabt belts is unclear at the moment due to payment disputes, this win makes Donaire the legitimate world champion in the weight class. Donaire held the WBO and IBF 122-pound championships coming in, and Nishioka was recently stripped of the WBC title for no good reason. Hopefully, Donaire will get to fight the next two leading lights in this strong division, namely Guillermo Rigondeaux and Abner Mares, although Rigondeaux is involved in litigation and Mares fights for a rival promoter, so getting either of thiose potentially huge fights signed could be tough. souce: hbo boxing after dark