Nonito Donaire shines in losing effort against Naoya Inoue

Four-division world champion Nonito Donaire has proven that he has plenty left in the tank following a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Naoya Inoue Thursday night at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Deemed a massive underdog for the fight, Donaire showcased that he's still capable of hanging in there with some of the best fighters in the world at 36 years old.

He took Inoue's best shots and drew a cut on top of the Japanese's right eye with his signature left hook in round two.

The Filipino pressed the action throughout the fight in a chess match that saw both fighters land bombs over the course of twelve rounds.

A hard left hook to the body from Inoue reduced Donaire to a knee in round eleven, but the latter was able to slowly recover and fight on until the final bell. All three judges scored the fight for Inoue, 117-109, 116-111 and 114-113.

The hard-fought victory has made Inoue the unified WBA and IBF world bantamweight champion as he improved his record to 19-0 with 16 KOs while Donaire dropped to 40-6 with 26 KOs. — BAP, GMA News