By Dennis Principe

WBO light flyweight champion Donnie "Ahas" Nietes guaranteed a knockout and he delivered.

Saturday night at the MOA Arena was Nietes' night when he floored a tough challenger in Moises Fuentes of Mexico three times en route to a smashing 9th round technical knockout win.

It was a methodical finish for the six-year champion when Nietes used a variety of shots from the head down to the body coupled with excellent footwork which the Murcia-native titleholder used in avoiding Fuentes' determined attack.

The bout was a rematch of their tight 2013 first fight held south of the Philippines which ended in a majority draw.

"My biggest adjustment for this fight was the attack to the body. During our first fight I exclusively went for the head. This time, I became more patient and worked slowly in getting this knockout," said Nietes.

The night before, Nietes told this writer about his plan of being more aggressive and aim for a smashing finish.

"Fuentes is one of the best fighters in this division and by beating him, I am able to prove that I am one of the best. I hope this win will make me one of the superstars of boxing," said Nietes.

After a typical feeling out round during the first canto, Nietes started to apply his fight plan of frustrating Fuentes by connecting jabs that turned out to be his set up for his accurate combinations.

Nietes befuddled Fuentes with his footwork and unleashed well-timed counters after every connection by the brave Mexican challenger.

For almost the entire night, Fuentes stalked Nietes but the Filipino eventually took full control of the match by the seventh round when he bamboozled the Mexican with more stinging shots.

Halfway through the ninth, Nietes floored Fuentes with an overhand right then threw one more right to the face while the Mexican was down, forcing referee Robert Byrd to deduct a point on the Filipino champion.

Byrd's decision to penalized Nietes turned out to be a motivation as the Filipino champ scored connected another combination to floor his now hapless challenger.

Fuentes stood up and attempted to retaliate but a well-timed right to the face dropped the Mexican for a third time, forcing the referee to wave off the title contest at 2:26 of the ninth.

After the win, Nietes made known his intention to challenge Nicaraguan superstar Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez or WBA/WBO flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico.

"I want to face all the champions or the best fighters out there. I may have two more title defenses before I move up in weight.

With the win, Nietes improves his record to 33-1-4 with 19 knockouts while Fuentes drops to 19-2-1 with 10 stoppages.