NIETES SCORES MASTERFUL SHUTOUT WIN OVER EDGAR SOSA IN FLYWEIGHT DEBUT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 25 Sep 2016
The longest reigning Filipino world champion Donnie Nietes put on a masterful performance to score a shutout victory over former WBC world light flyweight champion Edgar Sosa and win the WBO Intercontinental flyweight title.
Sosa who had made ten successful title defenses, was no match for Nietes who wielded his stinging left jab like a rapier and his right like a scalpel to cut to shreds the Mexican?s hopes of making an impact in the main event of the Philippines vs Mexico fight card at the StubHub Center in California before a good crowd that clearly enjoyed the fights staged by ALA International Promotions in co-operation with the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN and TFC, the widely watched global network.
Nietes who is ranked No. 1 flyweight by the WBO, completely outclassed Sosa who was ranked No. 5 by the WBC with all three judges Max DeLuca, Alejandro Rocin and Pat Russell having Nietes the winner by a 120-108 shutout which demonstrated the class, the skill and the resolve of the ALA Gym?s national legend who aims to become a world champion at 112 pounds after having earlier ruled as minimum weight and light flyweight champion for over nine years before he decided to relinquish his title and go after bigger named fighters at 112 pounds.
Nietes, a veteran of 15 world title fights wobbled Sosa a number of times with his uppercuts and right straights but never lost his composure by recklessly going for a knockout even as he sidestepped or blocked anything Sosa threw at him with ease.
Sosa?s corner-man Jorge Barrera, brother of Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, kept pleading with Sosa to throw more punches going into the championship rounds because he was losing the fight telling him, ?if you want to win you have to throw more punches.?
The 9th round was short by almost one minute and was noticed by the TV panel as well as referee Moret but it made no difference to the outcome.
Nietes (R) connects with his left over Sosa during the WBO inter-continental flyweight championship bout at the StubHub Center in Carson, California Saturday night. Photo by Jhay Otamias / PhilBoxing.com.
Nietes? trainer Edmund Villamor and his brother and former two-time title challenger Edito ?Ala? Villamor and cutman Dr. Ed De La Vega, told Donnie to stick to his fight plan, ?throw the jab and use the right hand as a counter when Sosa throws his jab? which he executed with precision prompting Dyan Castillejo to refer to Nietes as ?Doctor? because of his surgical perfection in the ring.
With the Filipino fans chanting ?Nietes! Nietes!? it was obvious that Sosa needed a knockout to salvage a win with his corner telling him, ?fight for your country, your people and your family? but their efforts to motivate Sosa failed against the total domination of Nietes to the utter delight of the predominantly Filipino crowd while a few Mexicans who carried banners extolling Sosa felt a major letdown but had no complaints.
In a post-fight interview, Nietes said he didn?t take any chances although he wanted to go for a knockout but that Sosa was resilient.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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