NIETES WANTS TO BE THE SUPERFLY KING
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 01 Mar 2018
CEBU ? Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes arrived back home in Cebu Wednesday to a hero's welcome after his superb performance last Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, California where he successfully defended his IBF world flyweight crown against Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina by 7th round knockout.
Nietes, the Philippines' longest reigning world champion, displayed his masterful craftsmanship inside the ring in front of boxing's mainstream audience via HBO for the first time and got rave reviews of his performance.
Nietes faced his hometown media with a thanksgiving dinner at St. Mark's Hotel Wednesday night. ?I feel like I'm floating and really want to go sleep but I'm happy to be here with you guys tonight,? the still jet lagged Nietes told the scribes whose body clock still ticked at around dawn US west coast time.
Recalling the fight with Reveco, trainer Edmund Villamor said that the fight unfolded exactly with what they had expected. ?Reveco fought exactly like in his previous fights which was exactly what we had been preparing for. The sparring with Brian Viloria helped a lot because Brian, like Reveco, likes to come inside.?
Nietes made no secret what he wants to do next.
?For me I really like to go up [to 115] because as I see it there is no more challenge for me in my current weight. Also it was my wish for a long time to fight the biggest names out there like [Juan Francisco] Estrada and Chocolatito [Roman Gonzalez],? Nietes said.
Asked if he would not be too small at 115, Nietes said, ?I see no problem if I go up in weight because I could easily adjust my training regimen [for that weight].?
ALA head trainer Edito Villamor said they will observe Nietes's training weight before they decide if Nietes is ready to fight at super flyweight. ?Donnie's training weight right now is at 125 lbs which is just right for the 112 lbs limit. If Donnie's training weight will come up to 130 lbs, that's what we're going to observe in the next month or so, then we know he's ripe to fight at 115,? Villamor said.
Nietes also said he's ready to take on superfly king Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand. ?I've have seen something in Rungvisai's fighting style that I think I would be able to defeat him,? Nietes said.
Asked if the Thai power puncher is not too big for him, Nietes said, ?Sor [Rungvisai] is not that big. We're about at the same size. We jogged together at the gym and we're about the same size. He appeared bigger and stronger because he is heavy.?
Meanwhile the brothers Edito and Edmund Villamor said they are aware that WBC world flyweight champion Daigo Higa, the 22-year old knockout artist from Japan whose got a fearsome record of 15 knockouts in 15 outings who was in California to personally watch the Nietes-Reveco fight, wanted to take on Nietes for a unification bout. ?We will fight him but it all depends on the plans of our promoter and HBO on what they want for Donnie next,? Edito Villamor said.
Everything is still fluid on what's next for Nietes and things will probably clear up when ALA president Michael Aldeguer, who is still in the US talking to HBO and other promoters, returns back to Cebu. But one thing is clear, after his scintillating performance last weekend, Nietes is definitely in the mix for the biggest fights out there ? a wish that he had for the longest time.
Photo: Nietes displays his IBF belt at Wednesday night's presscon at St Mark's Hotel in Cebu City.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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