Donnie Nietes Ready To Defend Title on September 12
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
His oft-postponed title defense finally set to take place in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico on September 12, WBO minimum weight champion Donnie Nietes is fit and ready to go.
Nietes who had to taper off not once but twice after his fight against Mexico’s Manuel Vargas was postponed has sparred extensively at the Wild Card Gym of award-winning trainer Freddie Roach under the watchful eyes of Edmund and Edito “Ala” Villamor .
Nietes has sparred extensively with light flyweight Rodel Mayol who battles undefeated WBO champion Ivan Calderon in Puerto Rico on the same date.
ALA Gym boxing patron Tony Aldeguer said Nietes is in “good shape and ready to go.”
The 27 year old Nietes is probably one of the most under-rated Filipino world champions. He is a dedicated fighter who works hard, is disciplined and knows what is expected of him.
In his last title defense against game Erik Ramirez, another Mexican, Nietes showed both his skill and power when he dropped the challenger four times before going on to win a unanimous twelve round decision. The Filipino dropped Ramirez in rounds 1, 5, 9 and 12 but each time the tough Mexican beat the count and on occasions even fought back desperately.
Mandatory challenger Manuel “Chango” Vargas is 28 years old and has a record of 26-3-1 with 11 knockouts.
In his last fight on February 14, Vargas scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Panama’s Walter Trello to win the WBO interim title. Trello had a record of 11-1 with 5 knockouts but Vargas beat him handily to set up the delayed showdown with Nietes on the “Latin Fury 11” fight card.
The Top Rank promotion also includes light middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez against Jason Le Houllier in a ten-round bout and the WBO bantamweight title fight between Fernando Montiel and Jerome Arnould.
Nietes is expected to leave for Mexico after stable-mate AJ “Bazooka” Banal who has also been training at the Wild Card and fights on the undercard of the Brian Viloria – Jesus Iribe IBF light flyweight title fight at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, is through with his clash against Jose Angel Beranza.
