NIETES OFF TO LOS ANGELES TOMORROW AHEAD OF HBO'S SUPERFLY EVENT
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 19 Jan 2018
Nietes.
CEBU ? The Philippines' longest reigning world champion Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes will fly to the United States tomorrow, Saturday, to acclimatize himself early ahead of the scheduled defense of his IBF world flyweight title against Argentina's Juan Carlos Reveco which opens up HBO's Boxing After Dark tripleheader headlined by the mouth-watering matchup between Thai star Srisaket Sor Rungvisai who will defend his WBC super flyweight title against former world champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico on Feb. 24 at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA.
Nietes (40-1-4, 22 KO?s) who previously held the WBO mininumweight and junior flyweight world titles, will be accompanied by trainers Edito and Edmund Villamor to United States. The trio will take a Cathay Pacific flight from Cebu Saturday where they are expected to arrive in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon local time.
Nietes will train at Freddie Roach's Wildcard Gym in Hollywood joining Filipino-American Brian Viloria who has been deep in training with Roach's assistant Marvin Somodio. Viloria will also fight on the Superfly event against Artem Dalakian of Ukraine for the vacant WBA world flyweight title. The other big matchup in the Superly event is between former superfly world champion Carlos 'Principe' Cuadras of Mexico and two-time world title challenger McWilliams Arroyo of Puerto Rico.
Reveco (39-3-0, 19 KO?s) is the No. 1 ranked contender and the mandatory challenger to Nietes's IBF belt. Nietes's promoter Michael Aldeguer and Reveco's promoter Oswaldo Rivero have been in negotiations since last November but couldn't quite finalize the fight until this week.
?The negotiations took so long. It started last November yet. We could not announce it until everyone was on the same page,? Aldeguer said who added that China, the Philippines, Argentina and the United States had been considered as fight venues.
Aldeguer however said that even though the fight is just a little over a month from now, Nietes was already in training for this fight. ?The target date for this fight has always been in February this year so Donnie was already training for this fight,? Aldeguer said.
Nietes's trainer Edito Villamor also confirmed that Nietes is well on his way with his preparation. ?We have already done more than 30 rounds of sparring,? Villamor said who will return to a familiar environment at Roach's famed Wildcard Gym.
The Nietes-Reveco title fight has been considered a big boost to HBO's Superfly event and with two Filipinos fighting on the card, Filipino boxing fans in Los Angeles are expected to troop to The Forum on Feb. 24.
?We?re very proud to add one of the Philippines? longest standing warriors and four-time world champion Donnie Nietes to this tremendous event as he defends his world title against three-time world champion Juan Carlos Reveco at the Forum on Saturday, February 24 and live on HBO,? said Tom Loeffler of 360 Boxing Promotions, the lead promoter of this event.
?In the last couple of years Nietes has looked very impressive headlining events in Los Angeles and we look forward to a huge turnout of local Filipino boxing fans for this world title defense against the upset minded Reveco who is seeking his fourth world title,? Loeffler added.
Nietes, for his part, said, ?Fighting in Los Angeles for the third time in front of the great Filipino fans along with fighting on HBO is a great honor for me. I know how tough Reveco is but I?ll be well prepared to defend my title on Saturday, February 24.?
Reveco meanwhile also expected big support from the Argentinians. ?This is a tremendous opportunity for me to finally fight in the United States and against a great champion in Donnie Nietes,? said Reveco. ?I know there will be a huge amount of Argentinian fans at the Forum for the fight and I look forward to winning the IBF Flyweight World Title in front of them.?
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