Nietes seeks fourth world title in Macau
Credit to Author: Tempo Online| Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 20:00:30 +0000
by Nick Giongco
Donnie Nietes flies to Macau on Christmas Day upbeat that by the time he gets back to the country on the first day of 2019, he’d be a four-division world champion.
Nietes battles fellow three-division titlist Kazuto Ioka of Japan on Dec. 31 at the Wynn Macau for the vacant World Boxing Organization super-flyweight crown.
Holed up in Cebu the last few months, Nietes (41-1-5 with 23 KOs) feels that he’s done enough in training and studying his Japanese rival that he has Ioka (21-1 with 13 KOs) all figured out.
Edito ‘Ala’ Villamor, who trains the 36-year-old Nietes, is supremely confident that the WBO 115-lb title will become a part of their baggage when they fly back to the Philippines.
Last September, Nietes was held to a draw by fellow Filipino Aston Palicte in their Los Angeles match for this same title that Nietes had clearly dominated.
Before deciding to go after the 115-lb title, Nietes and Ioka had won championships at minimumweight (105 lbs), light-fly (108) and fly (112).