Nietes stops Reveco by seventh-round TKO
DONNIE “AHAS” NIETES it seems cannot lose in the ring as he once again emerged triumphant in his fight in Inglewood, California, on Sunday ( Manila time), defeating Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco by technical knockout in the seventh round of their scheduled fight on HBO Boxing After Dark’s “Superfly 2” card to successfully defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title.
Making his first title defense of the IBF flyweight title, Mr. Nietes, 35, the country’s longest-reigning world champion as a light flyweight, continued his success in the ring with yet another clinical victory over challenger Reveco, in the process extending his winning streak spanning more than a decade now.
Mr. Nietes ( 41- 1- 4) had it steady right from the start, landing power punches that would later take a toll on Mr. Reveco.
The windup of round six proved to signal the end of things for Mr. Reveco in the fight after he absorbed a right hand from the Filipino champion.
Just as the bell sounded, Mr. Reveco ( 39- 4) staggered to his corner upon getting hit, a punch his team though protested came after the bell.
In the seventh round, Mr. Reveco tried to make a go at it but obviously he was still reeling from the solid punch he got and just had nothing left to give.
Sensing that he had his opponent on the brink of defeat, Mr. Nietes quickly pounced on Mr. Reveco before the latter’s corner threw the white towel at the 53-second mark of the round.
The win was a big one for Mr. Nietes, who was angling to showcase his skills to a wider audience by hooking up with HBO’s Superfly series.
Mr. Nietes, who the Compubox had leading in both total punches (100 to 40) and power punches (70 to 36) landed when the fight was stopped, expressed his excitement over the opportunity given to him and vowed to do his best in the lead- up to the fight.
With the loss, meanwhile, Mr. Reveco saw his three-fight winning streak come to an end.
In another fight at the Superfly 2 card, Filipino-American Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria was not as successful as Mr. Nietes as he bowed to Artem Dalakian of Ukraine by unanimous decision, 118-110, 118-110 and 118-110, in their clash for the vacant World Boxing Association flyweight title.
A two- division champion, Mr. Viloria ( 38- 6) was riding a two-fight winning run prior but slumped to his sixth career defeat instead with the loss. —