NIETES CAPTURES WBO LT FLY TITLE AS GARCIA CAMP DEMANDS A REMATCH
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Oct 2011
Donnie "Ahas" Nietes, riding the cheers of a hometown crowd in the last two rounds after controlling the early stages of his title showdown with Ramon "Principe" Garcia Hirales of Mexico, overcame a desperate fight back by the champion in the middle rounds to win the WBO junior flyweight title before a sell-out crowd at the University of St. La Salle Gymnasium in Bacolod City, Saturday.
Judge Liza Gimapa of Las Vegas had a lopsided 118-110 scorecard in favor of Nietes while New York's Carlos Ortiz had Nietes also a comfortable winner 117-111. It was only judge Danrex Tapdasan of the Philippines who appeared to reflect the closeness of the bout with a 115-113 scorecard also for Nietes.
The former WBO minimum weight champion who relinquished his title to go after the 108 pound title started cautiously but controlled the action from rounds one to five with solid uppercuts and hooks to the body and side of the head and appeared to hurt Garcia Hirales on a couple of occasions but didn't take any unnecessary risks by going for a knockout.
The chapmpion from La Paz, Mexico began to crowd Nietes an threw wild roundhouse punches starting the sixth round while also resorting to using his elbows for which he was cautioned by referee Robert Byrd who did an excellent job controlling the two fighters and the tendency of both to bang heads in close quarter action.
Nietes suffered a nick under his right eye early in the fight due to an accidental head-butt but bled profusely as a result o another accidental clash of heads in round eleven which opened up a nasty cut on his left eyebrow and forced Byrd to summon the ring doctor who ruled the fight could continue.
With blood streaming from the cut and the fans on their feet chanting his name, Nietes let it all hang out in a furious eleventh round where he nailed Garcia Hirales with some vicious shots to the head that stopped the champion in his tracks and continued to forget about his tiredness as he engaged the Mexican right up to the final bell.
While Garcia Hirales threw a lot of punches particularly in the second half of the twelve round battle, he missed very often while in stark contrast Nietes was far more accurate and landed the more telling blows.
In a post fight interview Nietes told philboxing.com that he was elated over winning his second world title and may seek a third by moving up to flyweight which is what Garcia Hirales also indicated he plans to do raising the possibility that the two fighters may face off once again at 112 pounds.
Nietes conceded he felt very tired in the eighth round and his cornermen headed by the brothers Edmund and Ala Villamor had to massage his legs and hands vigorously but that the chants of the fans lifted his spirits and gave him the courage to end the fight in style.
The trainer of the dethroned champion, Professor Leo Camacho commended Nietes and the Filipino fight fans but condemned the American judges whose scorecards he claimed did not do justice to the champion.
Camcho said he would request Michael Aldeguer for a rematch but indications are ALA Promotions have other plans for Nietes.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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