NIETES PROMISES IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE AGAINST RAYITO GARCIA ON 'PINOY PRIDE 36'
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 28 Apr 2016
CEBU ? The Philippines' longest reigning world champion Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes promised to dish out a great performance when he defends his WBO junior flyweight title against Raul 'Rayito' Garcia of Mexico on May 28 at the 8,000-capacity University of La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City.
Nietes (37-1-4, 21KO) defeated Rayito's twin brother Ramon Garcia Hirales on Oct. 8, 2011, also at the La Salle Coliseum, to capture his second world title belt in a performance which Nietes deemed as ?not very good and convincing.? Judge Carlos Ortiz Jr of New York had it 117-111, Lisa Giampa of Las Vegas had it 118-110 and Danrex Tapdasan of the Philippines had 115-113, all for Nietes, but the Mexican camp gave a big howl of disagreement when the scores were read after the fight.
?I was very excited before that fight,? Nietes, who was then facing the prospect of capturing his second world title in a higher weight division, told the Cebu media during a luncheon at The Social at the Ayala Center Mall here Wednesday. ?I had sleepless nights and it resulted in a bad performance in my part,? Nietes said who since then has successfully defended the title 8 times in the last 4 and a half years.
?But this time around, it's different. If he [Rayito Garcia who has a similar style with his brother] does not run, there could be a knockout,? Nietes, awarded super champion status by the WBO in the last WBO convention and who in the last few years have displayed a distinct air of confidence, calmly said. Nietes haven' lost a fight in 11 years since a highly questionable split decision loss to Angky Angkota of Indonesia in Jakarta on Sep. 28, 2004, the only blot on Nietes stellar record.
Rayito Garcia (38-3-1, 23KO), who together with Ramon was born on September 10, 1982, is looking to avenge the loss of his twin brother against Nietes. Rayito captured the IBF world minimumweight title from then Filipino champion Florante Condes on June 14, 2008 and successfully defended it 4 times until he lost it to Nkosinathi Joyi of Japan on Mar. 26, 2010. He later captured the WBO world minimumweight title over Luis de la Rosa of Columbia on Oct. 30, 2010 but lost it to compatriot Moises Fuentes Aug. 27, 2011. Rayito has since then climbed in weight and will be fighting for a world title for the first time in the 108-pound division.
Titled 'Pinoy Pride 36 ? A Legend in the Making' Nietes will be supported by Milan Melindo who will take on Javier Mendoza of Mexico in a rematch for the IBF light flyweight eliminator and King Arthur Villanueva who faces Juan 'El Pe?ita' Jimenez of Mexico in a 10-round bantamweight bout.
Photos by Levi Deresas / PhilBoxing.com.
L-R: Edito Villamor, Arthur Villanueva, Donnie Nietes, Milan Melindo and Edmund Villamor during Wednesday's presscon at The Social at the Ayala Center Mall in Cebu.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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