BIG U.S. BREAK FOR NIETES WHEN HE FACES REVECO IN "SUPERFLY 2"
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 20 Jan 2018
HBO?s ?Superfly 2? tripleheader is established officially and added to the two super flyweight matches is Donnie Nietes in a mandatory title defense against former world titleholder Juan Carlos Reveco on February 24 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Nietes (40-1-4, 22 KO) is widely considered as the world?s No. 1 flyweight, and is holding the IBF title belt. The 35-year-old ALA Gym standout has made two fights in the US, beating Juan Alejo in 2015 and Edgar Sosa in 2016, both matches were held at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
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Argentina?s Reveco (39-3, 19 KO) is the IBF flyweight top contender and has won world titles at junior flyweight and flyweight and has won three successive fights since losing a flyweight title rematch in December 2015 to Japan's Kazuto Ioka, who grabbed his flyweight belt in their first fight earlier that year. Reveco's latest outing is a lopsided unanimous decision win against Thailand's Komgrich Nantapech in September in a world title eliminator that made him a mandatory challenger to Nietes. Reveco will be fighting in the United States for the first time in "Superfly 2."
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The HBO fight card will headline Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defending his WBC world super flyweight title against Juan Francisco Estrada, and Carlos Cuadras fighting McWilliams Arroyo in another super flyweight bout. In addition to the undercard, Filipino-Hawaiian Brian Viloria will face Artem Dalakian for the vacant WBA world flyweight title.
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"That's the best fight we could make for the show," said Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions and HBO. "These two are legit, two top flyweights fighting each other, and Nietes has headlined two shows in Los Angeles in the past. We're very proud to add one of the Philippines' longest standing warriors and three-time world champion Donnie Nietes to this tremendous event as he defends his world title against former world champion Juan Carlos Reveco."
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Loeffler added that Nietes has been very splendid in winning and defending his title. "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."
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Nietes is the Philippines' longest reigning world champion. He is undefeated since 2004 and has won world titles in three weight classes, strawweight, where he won four title defenses, junior flyweight where he fought nine successfully, and then last April he dominated Nantapech of Thailand for the vacant flyweight title by a unanimous decision. He will be making his first defense against the 34-year-old Reveco of Argentina.
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"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," Nietes said. He knows how tough Reveco is, but he will be well-prepared to defend his title on February 24. Reveco, on the other hand, is excited over his US debut. He stated that this is his tremendous opportunity to finally fight in the United States and against a great champion in Donnie Nietes. "I know there will be a huge amount of Argentinean fans at The Forum for the fight, and I look forward to winning the IBF flyweight world title in front of them," Reveco said.
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?That was really the goal for Nietes over the years, to fight in huge events in the US after he broke the record of Flash Elorde and when he won his third world title,? ALA Boxing Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told SunStar Cebu. He added that they promoted Nietes twice in LA and "now to be part of the HBO telecast should be a huge boost to his already legendary career.?
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Nietes is not that popular among boxing fans in US. But the huge break has come. ?Yes, it should be his biggest fight because it?s on a world stage and it?s on HBO,? said Aldeguer. ALA Gym head coach Edito Villamor was delighted with the latest development. ?We are all very happy. We are also excited because this is Donnie?s biggest challenge that he?s been included in the Superfly 2,? Villamor said.
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Aldeguer revealed the plan which is to unify the titles at 112 or move up to 115 to fight Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez or challenge the winner of Estrada and Rungvisai if Nietes disposes of Reveco. Nietes accompanied by coaches Edito and Edmund Villamor flies to Los Angeles and will continue their training camp at the Wild Card Boxing Gym of Manny Pacquiao's coach Freddie Roach.
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In the main event of "Superfly 2," super flyweight is the other name for the junior bantamweight division, WBC junior bantamweight world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1, 39 KOs), a 31-year-old southpaw from Thailand who twice defeated and upset Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez last year, will fight his mandatory defense against Mexico's Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2, 25 KOs), the 27-year-old former unified flyweight titleholder.
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On the first "Superfly" card last Sept. 9 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Sor Rungvisai knocked out former four-weight champion and one-time pound-for-pound king Chocolatito Gonzalez in the fourth round of their rematch in the main event. In the supporting bout of that tripleheader, Estrada outpointed former champ Carlos Cuadras in a title eliminator to challenge the crown held by Sor Rungvisai.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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