SPORTS ROUNDUP 17: NIETES WANTS SOR RUNGVISAI AFTER PALICTE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 25 Aug 2018
Donnie Nietes has achieved a lot in his 15-year professional career. He was a three-time world champion in three weight classes, having previously held the WBO and The Ring magazine light flyweight titles, WBO minimumweight and IBF flyweight titles. He is the longest reigning Filipino world titleholder and currently the 10th ranked pound-for-pound fighter of the world by The Ring.
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Nietes will climb on the ring again on September 8 for the vacant World Boxing Organization superflyweight world title fight against fellow Filipino Aston Palicte at The Forum in Inglewood, California. They will battle for Naoya Inoue?s old superflyweight title which he vacated to move up to bantamweight. The title fight is Nietes? superflyweight debut.
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Palicte (24-2, 20 KOs) is 14-1 since a loss by KO to Romnick Magos in 2012. He also suffered a controversial split decision defeat to Junior Granados in his opponent's territory in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Palicte is promoted by Roy Jones Jr. and is eight years younger than Nietes (41-1-4, 23 KOs), who is fresh from 7th round KO win over Juan Carlos Reveco. This will be Palicte's first shot at a world championship.
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The first All-Filipino world title fight was Pancho Villa vs. Clever Sencio in 1925. The second was in May 26th between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan for the IBF superflyweight title. Nietes vs. Palicte is the third world championship battle between two of our countrymen.
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Palicte is one of the several Filipino fighters who came to the U.S. to seek greener pastures. He was a former amateur stalwart who represented the Philippines at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships in Mexico. His older brother Vincent and his younger brother James previously were on the national amateur boxing team.
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If he wins against Palicte, Nietes is targeting fellow pound-for-pound rated fighter, No. 7 by The Ring, and current World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight champ Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The Thai scored an upset over erstwhile world No. 1 pound-for-pound king Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez.
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Per CompuBox statistics, Gonzalez outlanded Sor Rungvisai 441 of 1,014 to 284 of 940 total punches. Gonzalez also had more power punches, 372 to 277. Sor Rungvisai ended up winning a controversial majority decision 113-113, 114-112, 114-112. In the rematch, Sor Rungvisai knocked Gonzalez out at 1:18 of the fourth round.
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A Nietes-Sor Rungvisai unification fight would be one for the books as a clash of pound-for-pound fighters. Another alternative foe for Nietes is former WBA (unified) and WBO flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada or Carlos Cuadras.
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Before the Asian Games, a sporting event known as the Far Eastern Championship Games were held which was first organized in 1912 and were first played in Manila in 1913 with 6 countries joining. Ten more Far Eastern Games were held until 1934. Due to the second Sino-Japanese War in 1934, the Far Eastern Games scheduled for 1938 were cancelled and the organization was disbanded.
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In its history, nine nations have hosted the Asian Games. They are India, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, South Korea, Qatar, and China. Manila hosted the 2nd Asian Games in 1954. Forty-six nations have participated in the Games, including Israel, which was excluded from the Games after their last participation in 1974.
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Jordan Clarkson skipped his senior year in college to enter the 2014 NBA draft. He was selected by the Washington Wizards in the second round with the 46th overall pick and was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, a rare achievement for a second-round pick. Clarkson was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. In his four NBA seasons he averages 14.1 points.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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