By Ronnie Nathanielsz
There is growing concern over the WBO minimumweight title defense of Donnie Nietes which was originally scheduled for July 18 in Jalisco, the hometown of Mexican challenger and interim champion Manuel "Chango" Vargas but was later postponed to August 1 in Oxaca.
However, there has been no publicity about the fight in Mexico or elsewhere with just ten days to go.
International matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz in an email in response to our question about the status of the fight replied that the title defense is scheduled for August 1 but he doesn't know where it will take place.
Lewkowicz is arriving in Manila for a news conference on Friday at which he will announce his tie-up with undefeated Filipino flyweight "Marvelous" Marvin Sonsona and details of his next fight which is likely to be a world title shot at WBO champion Jose "Carita" Lopez which Filipino promoter Sammy Gello-ani informed us sometime ago that he was working on.
Nietes has been training for several weeks at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles along with world-rated AJ "Bazooka" Banal and their trainer Edmund Villamor.
Clearly the postponement of the fight hurt Nietes who was nearing his peak for the August 18 clash having sparred extensively at the famed ALA Gym with the likes of No.1 ranked Milan Melindo, hard-hitting Philippine flyweight champion Rocky Fuientes and rugged Rolando del Castillo.
