NIETES RETAINS TITLE IN SMASHING WIN; SABILLO ESCAPES WITH CONTROVERSIAL SPLIT DRAW
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 Dec 2013
WBO light flyweight champion Donnie Nietes put an exclamation mark to a superb fight card at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday with a spectacular 3rd round knockout of Mexican challenger and former WBA minimumweight champion Sammy ?Guty? Gutierrez, but WBO minimum weight champion Merlito ?Tiger? Sabillo was lucky to salvage a split draw against undefeated mandatory challenger Carlos Buitrago of Nicaragua.
Nietes who was determined to erase the memory of his close and somewhat controversial majority draw against Mexico?s Moises Fuentes last March 2 with an impressive win, found an easy target for his accurate combinations as Gutierrez waded in with both hands flailing and leaving himself wide open for the vicious counter-punches of Nietes who has reigned as minimum weight and light flyweight champion for over 6 years. He is chasing the record set by the late Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde who held the world junior lightweight title for almost seven-and-a-half years.
Elorde himself won the world title at the inauguration of the Araneta Coliseum on March 16, 1960 before 36,000 screaming fans and while ?Pinoy Pride XXIII? didn?t approximate anywhere close to those numbers, the action atop the ring matched Elorde?s 7th round knockout of champion Harold Gomes in terms of skill and sheer domination.
Nietes nailed Gutierrez with cracking combinations in the opening round to drop the challenger twice before he was saved by the bell as Nietes went in for the kill.
Gutierrez, typical of Mexican warriors went for broke in the second round and survived the onslaught by the two division world champion but it was evident that Gutierrez was only buying time as Nietes rocked the challenger with a thundering left hook and then dropped him with a perfectly timed right straight that sent Gutierrez down on all fours and although he gamely tried to beat the count referee Celestino Ruiz knew it was all over at 2:58 of the third round.
The smashing victory of Nietes helped fight fans forget the narrow escape of Sabillo who retained his 105 pound title with a split draw against 21 year old Carlos Buitrago in a battle of unbeaten fighters where the Filipino world champion chased the Nicaraguan all night but failed to duplicate his crushing, one punch body shot in his first title defense against Jorlie Estrada of Colombia last July when he won by a 9th round knockout.
After a feeling out round Sabillo went after Butrago but couldn?t cut the distance and had to lunge forward with his looping left hand which was negated by Buitrago?s ability to step back or slip the punches.
Eager to entertain fight fans Sabillo, the former street fighter from Bacolod City tried to entice Buitrago to engage in a brawl but instead found a challenger who banked on a stiff jab to keep Sabillo at a distance and used a timely right straight to frustrate the champion.
Sabillo got caught with a perfect punch by Buitrago in round nine and staggered off-balance against the ropes but survived the momentary setback to once again assume the role of relentless aggressor down the stretch against the interim champion who had an unblemished record of 27 wins with 17 knockouts.
Fight fans and several members of the media including this reporter who covered the ?Filipinos kontra Latinos? fight card with Atty. Ed Tolentino for the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN felt that Buitrago deserved to win but two of the three foreign judges disagreed. Joerge Milke of Germany scoring it 115-113 for Sabillo while Levi Martinez had Buitrago ahead by the same 115-113 scorecard before Japanese judge Takeshi Shimakawa ensured that Sabillo retained his crown with an even 114-114 tally.
By his performance and the indecisiveness of the outcome it would appear that a rematch is in order.
Nietes (C) sends Gutierrez to the canvas in the bit of action during their title fight Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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