MARVIN SONSONA Draw 12 ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ

Possibly weakened by trying to make weight, Marvin Sonsona had a desperate struggle against Alejandro Hernandez on Saturday night, barely escaping with a 12-round draw at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada.

I didn’t update my preview as no betting lines were offered on this fight, but there was obvious concern regarding Sonsona when the 19-year-old Filipino failed to make weight for what was to have been a first defence of his WBO junior bantamweight title.

Hernandez came in right on the weight limit of 115 pounds. When Sonsona weighed in at 117.6 pounds, and said he couldn’t lose any more, the Filipino lost the title on the scales. Had Hernandez won, the Mexican boxer would have become the champion; the draw means that the title is vacant.

A draw seemed fair, one judge scoring it 114-114, one going for Sonsona 115-113, the third judge seeing it Hernandez’s way, 115-113. It was that sort of fight, a gruelling, seesaw struggle, with first one man, then the other, gaining the upper hand.

The crowd in the casino and TV viewers watching on TSN in Canada saw an outstanding fight, one of the most enjoyable I have seen this year.

Sonsona landed some heavy hits from his southpaw stance and seemed to be hurting Hernandez to the body in several rounds. Hernandez, in his second world title attempt, switched from orthodox to southpaw and back again throughout the fight and showed sound technical skills and a great chin.

There were times when Hernandez seemed to be under pressure on the ropes, but Sonsona wasn’t able to sustain his offensives. (I gather that the Filipino teenager had been struggling to lose weight right up to the weigh-in, and in the 11th round commentator Russ Anber exclaimed: “Sonsona looks drained!”)

In many rounds it came down to whether the judges liked Hernandez’s combinations or Sonsona’s weightier blows. Each got hit, came back to land punches, and got hit again. Sonsona was wide open at times but he showed grit and toughness. This was an excellent learning fight for Sonsona against a young veteran who fought the best fight of his career; Hernandez almost pulled off what would have been an upset had odds been posted.

I had Sonsona three points up after nine rounds but then he seemed to hit the wall and I noticed a tired look to his punches in the 10th. Hernandez, to me, was the fighter who was coming on in the last three rounds. “This is a heck of a close fight,” Russ Anber said as the two fighters gave their all in the last round. Sonsona seemed to win the first part of the round but then Hernandez came on again, driving the younger man back and rocking him with a right hand just before the final bell.

A rematch would be something to look forward to seeing, but it won't happen — I understand that, Sonsona, a growing lad, is moving all the way up to 122 pounds.