Donnie Nietes Will Be in Tough Against Manuel Vargas

Sep 10, 2009 • 12:00 AM ET

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

WBO minimum weight champion Donnie Nietes faces a tough battle when he defends his crown against Mexico’s rugged Manuel “Chango” Vargas, a solidly built fighter who loves to brawl in their title showdown in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday, Manila Time.

Three postponements of his title defense hasn’t fazed Nietes who is one of the most accomplished fighters in the famed ALA Gym of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer. Although Nietes had to taper off and then pick-up the tempo of his training because of the on again-off again scenario, he is determined to retain his title and keep the Filipinos run of success going.

ALA Gym boxing patron Tony Aldeguer said Nietes is in “good shape and ready to go.” He said both Nietes and Z “The Dream” G ores who fights on the same card are “in high spirits and the morale of the team is good.” The 27 year old Nietes is a dedicated fighter who works hard, is disciplined and knows what is expected of him.

Gorres (29-2-2, 16 KO’s) who was remembered by the Mexicans who watched his controversial fight against WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel two years ago in Cebu when Gorres got the better of the champion but lost the decision, mobbed the flashy southpaw who also faces a formidable opponent in former WBO bantamweight champion Cruz Carbajal (29-16-1, 25 KO’s).

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 which will also include 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.