By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The one week delay in his scheduled July 4 title defense against mandatory challenger and former minimum weight champion Francisco Rodriguez of Mexico has had no ill-effects on the longest reigning Filipino world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes who looked sharper than ever in a public workout at the ALA Gym Banilad Town Center in Cebu on Saturday.
Nietes, who will defend his title against Rodriguez, sparred three rounds against junior bantamweight Raul Yu and by all accounts looked sharper than ever as he connected with some nasty uppercuts and ripped into the heavier Yu with nifty hooks to the body and head.
Trainer Edmund Villamor noted that Yu was as tall as Rodriguez and approximated the style of the Mexican.
Nietes has also sparred with former flyweight title challenger Rocky Fuentes and tough Virgel Viktor and while he was in Manila sparred with promising amateur standout Kevin “KJ” C ataraja who will make his pro debut on “inoy Pride XXXI” against Indonesia’s Ardi “Predator” Tefa.
Villamor said Nietes was in great shape while Nietes himself told us wants to shut the mouth of the cocky Rodriguez and avenge the loss of his friend and stablemate Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo who lost his world minimumweight title to the Mexican by a 10th round TKO.
Nietes has continued to demonstrate his punching power in the right with which he dropped mandatory challenger Moises Fuentes three times in the ninth round to retain his title.
Nietes said that he will try to go for a knockout for the sake of the fans