'EL DRAGONCITO' RODRIGUEZ BRINGS 'AHAS' NIETES TO DEEP WATERS IN GUASAVE AS NIETES RETAINS TITLE (PHOTOS)
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 15 Aug 2010
GUASAVE, Sinaloa, Mexico ? Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes retained his title via unanimous decision against local boy Mario 'Dragoncito' Rodriguez but not before the gallant Guasaveno brought Nietes to deep waters from the 9th round onwards as the more than 2,000 townmates of the little dragon came alive in the closing rounds in the oven hot Auditorio Luis Estrada Medina here Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).
Judge Alejandro Lopez of Mexico City had Nietes ahead 118-110, Levi Martinez of New Mexico, who was one of the judges on the Nietes-Pornsawan and Nietes-Castro fights in the Philippines, had it 119-109 for Nietes and the third judge, Thomas Nardone of Florida, one of the judges during the Nietes-Vargas fight in Nayarit, had it 116-112 also for Nietes. Philboxing scored it 116-112 for Nietes.
Nietes (27-1-3 15KO) came out strong in the opening rounds dictating the tempo behind crisp jabs, upper cuts and overhands as Rodriguez (10-6-3 7KO) seemed content on defending, countering and feeling his way to into the fight. Nietes connected with a solid uppercut-overhand combo in the 3rd that seemed to wake the little dragon.
In the 4th round, Rodriguez took the offensive and forced himself upon Nietes but Ahas (Snake), true to his nickiname, boxed wisely, slipping out of trouble and striking with solid counters to neutralized the little dragon. The action continued like this in the next four rounds with Nietes connecting bunches of solid shots to the head of Rodriguez that at one point wobbled the Sinaloan. In the 7th and 8th rounds, Nietes bloodied the nose of Rodriguez and hurt him with body shots but the durable Mexican could not be put away by the Bacoleno.
Top photo: Nietes celebrates after retaining his title in Guasave.
Nietes during the singing of the Philippine national anthem.
A man (left, highlighted) cools Rodriguez with an electric fan in between rounds in the oven-hot Auditorio Luis Estrada Medina.
Nietes (R) tags Rodriguez with a body shot.
Rodriguez (L) connects to the head of Nietes.
Nietes celebrates.
Rodriguez raises the hand of Nietes.
Beginning in the 9th round, the complexion of the fight had a sudden change as Nietes appeared to have lost a step and stamina while Rodriguez seemed to have got his second wind. The over a hundred degree oven hot tin-roofed auditorium without any ventilation may have got into the snake but the native 'El Dragoncito', who had been cooled by an electric fan in between rounds in his corner illegally, thrived on. Rodriguez, egged on by his compatriots, went after Nietes and never stopped punching as the tiring Nietes used all his bag of tricks and experience to weather the onslaught until the end of the fight even as the 10th round saw Nietes cut on his left eyebrow by a punch but the flow of blood was effectively stopped by cutman Dr Ed de la Vega.
In the end the gallant Rodriguez failed to hit Nietes with a meaningful shot in the championship rounds to change the outcome of the contest but made a good account of himself and gave his townmates their money's worth. Nietes survived to retain his title for the fourth time and made history as the only Filipino to defend his title three times inside Mexico.
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