They had a heckuva nice fight north of the border last night, with 19-year-old junior bantamweight Marvin Sonsona proving he was legit by defeating veteran Jose Lopez via decision. Sonsona came up big in two departments that undid other green Filipino prospects in the last year or two: chin (goodnight, Rey Bautista) and stamina (goodnight, A.J. Banal). The kid really can punch and with his size and southpaw stance, arrived with some nice advantages. What may have been most impressive, though, is the composure he showed when Lopez began solving the riddle a little bit midway into the bout. He stopped loading up, started moving and picked his shots well. By the end of the fight, he’d retaken control.
I saw a ton of mistakes too — hands down too frequently, punches that he slung from wild angles, running past Lopez after a flurry without any notion of defense — but you have to like this showing. After all, he’s only 19. I didn’t graduate college until I was 24. Sonsona just got his equivalent.
(For most of the rest of the fight — there are a couple rounds missing, alas — follow along after the jump.)
