NIETES RETAINS WBO TITLE IN EXCITING MAJORITY DRAW
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 03 Mar 2013
WBO light flyweight champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes weathered two cuts, one on each eye, to salvage a majority draw against game Mexican challenger Moises Fuentes before a jam-packed Pacific Ballroom at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu, Saturday night.
It was a battle of champion vs champion as Nietes, the WBO 108 pound king faced off with WBO 105 pound champion Fuentes in the immensely successful ?Pinoy Pride? series over ABS-CBN Channel 2 and also over The Filipino Channel internationally with a ?live? telecast in Mexico. It was the first such historic showdown since 1964 when then junior lightweight champion Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde lost by a 14th round TKO to lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz of Puertp Rico at the Rizal Memorial Complex.
Nietes had a small cut on his right eyelid which was caused by a punch in the sixth round but suffered a nasty gash on his left eye due to an accidental head-butt and despite the frantic efforts of his corner which included Dr. Ed de La Vega who served as cut-man, the blood continued to flow as Fuentes targeted the cut and Nietes appeared to be bothered by it.
The two American judges Adelaide Byrd and Pat Russell both found it impossible to separate the two fighters and scored it an even 114-114 while Filipino judge Danrex Tapdasan who had previously been objected to by the camp of Barrera but was upheld by WBO supervisor and Asia Pacific vice president Leon Panoncillo, had Nietes the winner 115-113.
It was clearly a difficult fight to score as several of the rounds were close with Nietes landing the more telling blows and Fuentes showing a remarkable work rate especially in the middle rounds when he ripped Nietes with a series of body shots although as three time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera told the Manila Standard in a pre-fight interview, Fuentes had no power.
Nietes nailed Fuentes with a chopping right hand in the opening round and hurt him towards the end of the round with a solid combination to the head. Fuentes had his moments in the second round but Nietes connected with the more telling punches to steal the round.
With Barrera, who was seated next to us on the ABS-CBN television panel, shouting at Fuentes to work the body, the challenger quickly responded with some good shots to the side of the body in round four before Nietes caught him with a good left hand.
A cracking right by Nietes visibly hurt the Mexican challenger whose nose began to bleed in the fifth round before referee Jack Reiss stopped the action for a split second thinking the bell had rung but quickly resumed action when he realized that the din of the crowd made it difficult to figure out what was going on.
Fuentes got into his rhythm in rounds seven and eight working to the body of Nietes and finding the mark with a good left-right combination but just when the Mexican?s corner felt he was turning things around Nietes connected with a powerful overhand right followed by a left and then clipped Fuentes with another chopping right hand.
Although his corner worked on a tiring Nietes in the ninth round, rubbing his chest feverishly it was Fuentes for some reason who eased off in the championship rounds, hardly throwing punches as Nietes used his footwork to stay out of trouble while occasionally connecting with a left jab to keep Fuentes at bay.
An uppercut in the eleventh round rocked a visibly fading Fuentes and Nietes used good movement and ring savvy to slip the punches of Fuentes, and with the crowd chanting ?Nietes! Nietes!? the champion responded with a perfect combination to eventually retain his title in what judge Pat Russel as he stepped down from his judge?s chair described as ?an exciting fight.?
Marco Antonio Barrera was clearly upset over the decision and thought Fuentes, who trains in his gym and is managed by his brother Jorge, won the fight. He stepped into the ring and politely expressed his displeasure over the decision asking Panoncillo how he saw the fight to which the WBO official replied ?it was a very close fight which could have gone either way? adding that it was ?definitely not a hometown decision.?
Barrera also approached ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer and told him ?Michael you know your fighter lost? to which the youthful promoter politely replied, ?it was a very close fight.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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