NIETES TO DEFEND WBO CROWN JAN. 26 AGAINST GUTIERREZ
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 23 Nov 2007
World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight champion Donnie "Ahas" Nietes is set to defend his title against WBO no.3 Sammy Gutierrez of Mexico on January 26 in Bacolod City.
This was bared yesterday by Nietes' chief benefactor Antonio L. Aldeguer, adding that a January 30 deadline has been set by the WBO for the choice defense.
"So basically, we are preparing for two major events early next year, the Nietes defense and the February 2 Gorres-Darchinyan showdown," revealed Aldeguer yesterday in an interview.
Nietes had won the vacant WBO title with a unanimous decision verdict over previously unbeaten Pornsawan Kratingdaenggym last September 30 in Cebu City. The title was vacated by Puerto Rican Ivan Calderon, who moved up in weight to win the WBO 108-lb title over Hugo Cazares of Mexico.
WBO Asia-Pacific Chairman Leon Panoncillo, the man credited for giving Asian fighters the break they deserve, had earlier indicated that the 21-year-old Gutierrez is an extremenly formidable challenger, with a record of 19 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws with 13 KO's.
Meanwhile, Aldeguer also stressed that while the Z Gorres-Vic Darchinyan fight is already slated for February 2 in the country, both Cebu and Manila remain in contention as possible venue for the highly-anticipated match-up.
"The good thing about Cebu is we have all our staff here, but the final choice of location will really depend on a lot of factors," said Aldeguer.
The winner of the Gorres-Darchinyan IBF eliminator will move on to challenge newly-crowned IBF superfly champion Dmitri Kirilov who edged out Jose Navarro for the vacant title.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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