CEBU, Philippines - Filipino boxer Marvin “Marvelous†Sonsona (19-1-1, 15KOs) showed that he still has what it takes to be a world champion again after he eked out a vengeful split decision victory over his Puerto Rican rival Wilfredo ‘Papito’ Vazquez, Jr. (23-4, 19KOs) yesterday at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Aside from seizing the North America Boxing Federation featherweight title, the pride of General Santos City also scored a sweet redemption over Vazquez, who knocked him out in the fourth round during their first meeting four years ago.
The 23-year-old Sonsona made an impression from the outset, dropping Vazquez in the first round with a powerful body shot. The Puerto Rican, however, recovered quickly and went on to finish the match.
Vazquez fought well in rounds five and six, landing crisp jabs and straights to the head of Sonsona.
The bout became ugly the rest of the way, with a lot of wrestling and accidental head butts from both fighters.
Sonsona was slapped with a one-point deduction in round six for an illegal blow to the back of the head of Vazquez.
Sonsona though continued to pile up points in the later rounds using his reach advantage.
After 10 rounds of action, two judges had identical scores of 96-92 for Sonsona, while the other had it 96-92 for Vazquez, thus, the split verdict.
It was Sonsona's fifth straight win and more importantly, it would possibly open the door to another world title crack from him.
Sonsona, who is also the reigning WBO International featherweight champion, once reigned as the WBO super flyweight king. (FREEMAN)