Nietes levels up

LET’S talk about boxing. And Donnie Nietes. And let’s talk about how Nietes is bolstering his already rocksolid legacy.

Since winning his first world title in 2007, Donnie Nietes has become the longest reigning Filipino boxer of all-time.

That’s 10 years and eight months as of today. Not only that, Nietes is one of only three Filipino boxers to have won world titles in three weight divisions.

The other two are Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire. Yet surprisingly, Nietes isn’t as celebrated globally as a fighter of his stature deserves to be.

Pundits point to a number of reasons,

such as the lack of big-name opponents and the lower weight classes he’s been fighting in.

Since winning his first world title in 2007, he fought in the minimumweight class for three years before moving up to light flighweight where stayed for another five years, during which he held the Ring Magazine and WBO light flyweight titles.

After moving up to the 112-pound division in 2016, Nietes won the vacant IBF world flyweight title in 2017 and defended it last February 24 by knocking out Argentinian challenger Juan Carlos Reveco in impressive fashion, on HBO at that.

Now here are some interesting coincidences: it was in the flyweight class that Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire made a name for themselves.

Pacquiao won his first world title by knocking out Chatchai Sasakul in Thailand in 1998. Donaire also won his first world title by destroying the cocky Vic Darchinyan in the US in 2007.

Of course, Nietes’s already outstanding feats will be difficult to surpass and in terms of achievements, he’s up there with Pacquiao and Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

Following the demolition of the overmatched Reveco last Saturday, Nietes looks poised to dominate the 112-pound division.

Nietes, though, wants to jump to the 115-pound division where the big names and the big fights are. One of these is Nietes’s dream fight against four-division world champ Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez of Nicaragua.

A win would establish Nietes’s as a force to reckon with in the boxing mainstream.

Gonzalez’s camp said days before the Reveco fight that they wanted Nietes as well. Gonzalez, 30, needs a convincing win after losing back-to-back world title fights to Thailand’s Wisaksil Wangek.

But after Nietes’s overwhelming performance against Reveco, Team Gonzalez must be having second thoughts about making that dream fight happen lest it become a nightmare.

At 36 years old, Nietes is looking sharper, smarter, slicker and stronger than ever.

But are these enough to dominate a division that’s teeming with talent in their natural weight class? One thing’s for certain, though: whoever he fights next, Nietes’s boxing career is leveling up big time.

And it looks like he’s just getting warmed up.