NIETES REINVENTS HIMSELF
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 17 Aug 2016
Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes is one of the most accomplished boxer in the history of Philippine boxing: world champion in minimumweight division with four successful defenses; world champion in the junior flyweight division with nine successful defenses; longest reigning Filipino world champion of 8 years, 10 months and counting; Ring magazine champion and awarded by the WBO with a super champion status ? but one thing that eluded Nietes so far is real superstardom.
After a confluence of events and maybe something seething inside him, Nietes has made a big move in his career, dropping his WBO junior flyweight belt and jumped into the more lucrative flyweight division, to maybe finally achieve what he had missed his entire career.
?This time, my goal is to fight the big names in boxing,? Nietes told the Cebu media in a prepared statement Tuesday at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu during the launching of 'Philippines vs Mexico' ALA Promotions event scheduled at the StubHub Center in Carson, California on September 24 which Nietes will headline against former two-time world champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico.
Nietes was mandated by the WBO to defend his title against Moises Fuentes of Mexico whom Nietes had a draw in their first encounter but knocked down three times en route to 9th round demolition in their rematch. ?For me, I'm done in the junior flyweight division. Nobody there is left for me. I think it's time for me to challenge the other world champions [in the higher division],? Nietes said.
It used to be said that people come to watch Nietes fight because of Nietes's pet snake that he brings into the ring curling in his neck during his ring entrances and not his fights which, more often than not, lacks excitement. Critics put the heat on Nietes after his unpopular draw with Fuentes saying that Nietes has been protected all along and if paired with a real contender, he wilts under pressure. But perhaps lost to most boxing observers was Nietes's impressive run after the Fuentes draw where he stopped five of his last seven opponents inside the distance including dominant wins over Fuentes and former world champions Francisco Rodriguez Jr and Raul 'Rayito' Garcia.
Nietes's trainer Edmund Villamor said the reason for the higher KO percentage was they had changed Nietes's training regimen and had him sparred with bigger sparring partners. ?If we kept him paired with boxers at his weight during sparring, his power would not improve, so we had him sparred with bigger sparring partners like [bantamweight] Arthur Villanueva and [super flyweight] Jonas Sultan,? Villamor said. Villamor also said they had worked to improve on Nietes's speed and timing which was highly evident in his last few fights.
Both Nietes and Villamor are confident the power will still be there at the higher weight to which Nietes feels he is more comfortable now and thinks he can do a lot more in his boxing career. And starting with Sosa, Nietes plans to take on the elite fighters of the flyweight division and hopes to face WBO/WBA world champion Juan Francisco Estrada next. He also said he is willing to pursue pound for pound fighter Roman Gonzalez in the junior bantamweight division.
Will Nietes, 34, who has come a long way from a gym janitor to become the unlikely face of ALA Boxing Gym, become successful in his new mission to take on the biggest names and beat them? Will he finally achieve the stardom that so far has eluded him in his already hall of fame career? We will most likely get a glimpse of the answer come September 24.
Photo: Nietes (C) with trainers Edmund Villamor (L) and Edito Villamor during Tuesday's presscon at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City. Photo by Levi Deresas / PhilBoxing.com.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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