NIETES TOOK THE ROAD TO GLORY IN FUENTES REMATCH AND REDEEMED PINOY PRIDE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 May 2014
WBO light flyweight champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes took the road to glory and redeemed Pinoy Pride in his much-awaited rematch against Interim champion and mandatory challenger Moises Fuentes of Mexico with a spectacular 9th round TKO victory before an ecstatic crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena, Saturday night.
It was the culmination of an impressive three fight sweep by ALA boxers over touted Mexican warriors in one of the finest fight cards in years, staged by the famed ALA Promotions in cooperation with the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN.
Team Nietes celebrates after Donnie knocked out Fuentes in the ninth round during their title fight Saturday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. Photos by Dong Secuya.
In earlier battles that set the tone for the main event in the storied Philippine-Mexican rivalry, Milan Melindo retained his WBO International flyweight title with a majority decision over aggressive Martin Tecuapetla while Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista made an inspiring comeback after a layoff of more than one year to score a unanimous ten round decision over Sergio Villanueva.
Melindo put on a boxing clinic against a game Tecuapetla, peppering the onrushing Mexican with perfectly timed counter punches, nailing him with solid jabs and ripping hooks to the body and side of the head, and vicious uppercuts.
However, unknown to even the TV panel which benefited from the excellent knowledge and insights of Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire, Melindo hurt his hand in the eighth round and decided to merely protect himself in the last four rounds which caused concern among some of the fans who thought he was fading and lacked stamina.
The superb performance of Melindo somehow didn?t register with judge Salven Lagumbay who inexplicably scored the fight a draw raising serious questions when ring announcer Ted Lerner read the scorecards with Melindo winning by a majority decision with Edward Ligas scoring it 116-112 which was the same unofficial scorecard of the TV panel (8 rounds to 4) while Jerrold Tomeldan had Melindo the winner 115-113.
Bautista won on the scorecards of all three judges with scores of Dan Nietes 97-93 and Greg Ortega and Edward Ligas turning in 96-94 scorecards.
Nietes was hell-bent on erasing any doubts in the minds of fight fans after he retained his title against Fuentes in March 16, 2013 by a majority draw which was even criticized by Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera whose brother Jorge trains Fuentes.
American strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson who also worked with Bautista and is currently helping Donaire in his preparation for his WBA featherweight title fight against champion Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa in Macau on May 31, told the Manila Standard three days before the fight that Nietes ?looks amazing. His physique has changed and so has his endurance which was always kind of suspect? as evidenced in his first fight against Fuentes.
Curson revealed they had done some ?altitude training? using a simulator and that based on his overall training regimen Nietes ?looks phenomenal.?
Nietes lived up to the billing. Using excellent lateral movements and slipping the punches of Fuentes who started off aggressively. Nietes counter-punched to near perfection and despite hurting Fuentes with a vicious blow to the ribs in round five the Mexican continued to press the action.
In the seventh round Nietes stunned Fuentes with several solid rights with Donaire and his father/trainer ?Dodong? Donaire shouting instructions from ringside for Donnie to throw combinations and use his overhand right in confirmation of the instructions of trainers Edmund and Edito ?Ala? Villamor in the corner.
Nietes maintained his control of the fight in the eighth round, catching Fuentes with deadly counters before the champion unleashed a one-two combination that dropped Fuentes for the first time in the fight in the ninth round. An excited Nietes in a reflex action punched Fuentes when he was down forcing referee Robert Byrd to deduct a point which only appeared to further fire up Nietes.
The 31 year old who is chasing the record of the late world junior lightweight champion Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde who reigned for seven years and three months, hunted Fuentes down and nailed him with a cracking right that dropped the challenger for the second time in the round.
Sensing that the end was near as Fuentes looked battered, bloodied and bewildered and with Donaire shouting at him to use the overhand right, Nietes did just that sending Fuentes down glassy-eyed and helpless for the third time in the round forcing referee Byrd to call a halt to the massacre at 2:56 of the ninth round.
All three judges Waleska Roldan of New York, Robert Hoyle of Las Vegas and Fernando Laguna-Lanes of Spain all had Nietes ahead at the time of the stoppage by margins of 78-74, 77-75 and 77-75 with Roldan telling the Manila Standard that all three judges scored the fateful 9th round 9-6 for Nietes because of the one point deduction by referee Byrd which was perfectly right.
Nietes added the prestigious Ring Magazine belt to his trophy room even as Michael Aldeguer disclosed he is looking at bigger fights against such stars as undefeated Roman Gonzales and Mex icao?s WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada should he move up in weight in the future.
Nietes in a post fight news conference said he was aware of the criticism of fans after his first fight with Fuentes who claimed he was weak and had no stamina and was determined to prove them wrong and as Donaire pointed out he did so in an emphatic and superb manner leaving no doubt as to who is the best light flyweight in the world.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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