Ex-world champ sees Palicte beating Nietes by KO

FORMER world champion-turnedboxing trainer Rodel Mayol is confident that his ward, Aston Palicte, possesses all the tools that will beat Donnie Nietes and end his impressive run in boxing.

Not only does Mayol think that Palicte will win, but he also believes that he will win impressively.

“I have huge confidence that Palicte will win via knockout,” Mayol told SunStar Cebu. “One, Palicte is bigger than Nietes and size matters. Two, Palicte is stronger. Three, Palicte is younger and hungrier. Nietes’ only advantage is his experience. No doubt Nietes is very good, but he’s already older so his body is already weak. Just like a car, he has already lots of miles on him, but he’s still okay.”

Palicte and Nietes are fighting for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight belt in one of the featured fights of “Superfly 3” on Sept. 8 in the Forum in Inglewood, California.

Despite expecting a dominant finish by Palicte, Mayol thinks that this will be a very exciting fight.

“But this will be a very good fight. Aston’s weakness is usually his stamina. But this time, in our training, he can go 15 rounds and not get tired. I also strengthened his midsection in case Nietes throws body punches. That’s why I’m confident that Palicte will win. I believe that this will be a better fight than Jerwin Ancajas vs. Jonas Sultan,” said the one-time World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight champion.

The 37-year-old Mayol, who was once an ALA Boy himself, said that he knows Nietes well and that it will be a huge factor on fight night.

“Yes, we used to spar against each other. I know how to fight Nietes,” he said.

Mayol was already one of ALA Gym’s big name fighters when Nietes was making his foothold in the sport.

The 27-year-old Palicte, ranked No. 2 by the WBO, was impressive last year with stoppage wins over former interim world champion Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and three-time world title challenger John Mark Apolinario.

Nietes, however, is a different beast whom Palicte has never faced yet. The 36-year-old is a three-division world champion, currently the No. 10 ranked pound-for-pound fighter and one of the best in boxing’s lower weight divisions. He has beaten the cream of the crop in his weight division and hasn’t lost since a controversial split decision loss to an overweight Angky Angkota back in 2004.