SPORTS SHORTS 81: DONNIE NIETES WANTS TO CHALLENGE ESTRADA AFTER DUBAI FIGHT
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 16 Mar 2021
Four division world champion Donnie Nietes was excited to watch Juan Francisco Estrada defeated Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez by split decision at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas to win the WBA, the WBC and The Ring super flyweight titles. He hopes that he could be next in line for the unified titles.
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“I’ll go with Estrada,” Nietes told SunStar Cebu on who he thinks will win before the two super flyweight champs collided last Saturday. “He’s the more technical fighter. ‘Chocolatito’ needs to knock him out because if the fight goes the distance, Estrada will beat him on points.”
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Nietes was correct in his prediction as Estrada came out the winner with two of the three judges favoring him. Carlos Sucre scoring 117-111 and David Sutherland had it 115-113 both for Estrada. Jesse Reyes favored Gonzalez with a 115-113 win.
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Estrada, the World Boxing Council (WBC) and The Ring super flyweight champion annexed Gonzalez's World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight Super title. Estrada became the lineal super flyweight champion, being the best of the best in the division.
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Nietes was right when he believed that Estrada has improved a lot since he was defeated by Chocolatito in their first fight. Estrada won 16 of his 17 matches since his first loss to Gonzalez, losing only to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai by majority decision.
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Estrada became a world champion by winning via split decision over Brian Viloria for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and WBA flyweight straps in April 6, 2013.
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He emerged as a two-division world champion by a unanimous decision win over Sor Rungvisai for the WBC super flyweight title during their rematch in April 26, 2019.
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"Ahas" Nietes will face either Panama’s Orlando Penalba or Dominican Republic’s Norbelto Jimenez in a non-title super flyweight fight during his much-anticipated ring return after more than two years of inactivity. He likes to face Estrada next, the winner over Chocolatito.
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He said it is very important that he must win impressively so that MTK Global can negotiate a fight with him against the winner of the Gonzalez and Estrada fight which is the Mexican "El Gallo". “I won’t say that I will knock him (Penalba) out. But there’s a chance that there will be a knockout.,” Nietes told SunStar Cebu.
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At age 38 years, Nietes believes that he still has a lot of gas left in his tank for a title shot at Estrada. He has been sparring with fellow former ALA standouts KJ Cataraja and Jeo Santisima at the Villamor Brothers Boxing Gym.
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Coach Edmund Villamor said Nietes has been doing great. He also did conditioning jobs with coach Edito Villamor. The longest reigning Filipino world champion said he is now ready to fight for 10 rounds.
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On March 13, 2021, for the first time in NBA history, five different players recorded the triple-doubles on the same day: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook, Domantas Sabonis, James Harden, and Julius Randle.
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Antetokounmpo and Westbrook’s individual triple-doubles occurred in the same game, marking just the sixth time in league history opponents achieved 30-point versions of the triple-double.
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The Bucks’ two-time MVP also became just the second player in franchise history to grabbed triple-doubles in back-to-back games, with NBA icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, being the other. He had with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
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Westbrook, who posted 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, continues to inch closer to the topnotcher Oscar Robertson on the career triple-doubles list. The former NBA MVP now has 157 to his tally, and needs 25 more to surpass Robertson.
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Harden continued his do-it-all surge for the Nets with Kevin Durant sidelined. His 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists helped Brooklyn abort a late Detroit rally and carried the Nets to within half a game of Eastern conference leader Philadelphia.
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Sabonis penetrated Phoenix’s vaunted defense for 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists and helped Indiana cut the Suns’ five-game winning streak. The Pacers’ two-time All-Star is one of five players in the league averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists this season.
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Randle, who just came out of his first career All-Star appearance, continued to resurrect the Knicks in the playoff race. The former Lakers reserve has shone in New York, this time with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in a win over Oklahoma City.
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Tokyo Olympics organizers announced that the torch relay would commence on March 25 from the J-Village training centre in Fukushima, as planned, signalling the build-up to the start of the Games in July as officials ensure to work on COVID-19 counter-measures.
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The Grand Start ceremony and first phase of the torch relay on the first day will not be open to the public as organizers reduce the number of participants and simplify the program to prevent the spread of the Covid-19, they said in a statement on Monday.
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Tokyo 2020 "is committed to ensuring the safety and security of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch relay by taking countermeasures to prevent the spread of any infections among spectators, torchbearers, staff, and other relay participants, as well as local residents", the statement said.
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At the first Olympic torch relay in 1936, the flame was transported from Olympia, Greece to Berlin covering over 3,187 kilometers and relayed by 3,331 runners in twelve days and eleven nights.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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