ALL PRAISES FOR DONNIE NIETES
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 18 Aug 2010
World Boxing Organization minimumweight champion Donnie Nietes on Sunday made the fourth successful defense of his title and for the third time did so in the hometown of his Mexican opponent, Mario Rodriguez, a tough and gutsy 21 year old who lived up to what we?ve come to expect from Mexican fighters.
Despite the stifling heat in his dressing room where he didn?t even have an electric fan and sweat profusely even before he entered the ring, Nietes put on a superb show of boxing skill, telling combinations, pinpoint accuracy. When he was almost totally debilitated by the heat which international matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz claimed was about 115-120 degrees atop the ring, Nietes used his ring smarts to survive.
Nietes is not just an excellent boxer he is one of the nicest, most humble human beings you could ever meet ? this despite being a world champion who is chasing the legacy of the late great Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde who reigned as junior lightweight champion for almost seven-and-a-half years.
We had the privilege of covering many of Elorde?s fights in the early 1960?s until he retired and came to know him and care for him like a brother. Having seen him up close and personal, we see a genuine reflection of his humility and decency in Donnie Nietes. That to us is probably the finest trait of this young man from the famed ALA Gym where the qualities of goodness are inculcated in the fighters who walk through its hallowed training ground.
When we posted a brief report on his fight on Facebook and Twitter, the response was in many instances touching and in most instances extremely satisfying. Filipinos both at home and abroad and even American fight fans who follow our stories on the various Internet boxing sites were all praises for Nietes.
Jessie Caliao Cabusas noted that Nietes is deserves to be one of the great little champions of the lower weight classes. He suggests that Donnie?s next fight should be held in a neutral venue and should be on pay-per-view referring to Nietes as ?the next great champion in boxing.?
Michael Canja suggests that Nietes should move up in weight and go after undefeated light flyweight champion Ivan Calderon while there were others who said that since he has no trouble making the weight Nietes should go after the minimum weight champions in the other world organizations and become the undisputed champion.
The nice thing about all the reactions were they were sincere suggestions driven by their respect for Nietes and his achievements. There was not one individual who even remotely sought to downplay what Nietes has done which to us, was most satisfying.
Clearly those who wrote in value the fact that our fighters ? win or lose ? make tremendous sacrifices because boxing is an extremely demanding sport. Our fighters are driven by a desire to improve the quality of their lives since they all come from among the poorer sectors of Philippine society and in the process make life easier for their families while bringing both pride and joy to millions of Filipinos most of whom know how to value the hardships our fighters go through and to respect them for even trying.
This is the one reason why we are vehemently against those who callously exploit fighters and the agencies that fail to live up to their mandate to protect our boxers. Just like Donnie Nietes we will never back off no matter the heat that we may have to suffer.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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