Nietes announces arrival at flyweight division
JUST as we hoped, Donnie Nietes (39-1, 22 KOs) won via unanimous decision against Edgar Sosa (52-10 , 30KOs) last Sunday in his first fight at the flyweight division.
And exactly as we predicted, Donnie utilized his speed advantage to the hilt, and boxed circles around his Mexican counterpart.
MISMATCH. After the quintessential feeling out period in the first few rounds, Nietes dominated the fight till the end.
So superior was he that the scorecards had it a shutout at 120-108 thrice, all for the fighter from Murcia, Negros Occidental.
Slippery counter-punchers like Donnie can make an opponent look bad and old, and on this night, Sosa looked every bit like the 37 year old fighter he was.
Sosa was very active as he kept on trying, but he was simply no match for Donnie's superior speed and precision punching.
So dominant was Donnie that there were times it seemed he could hit Sosa at will and had him on the verge of a knockdown on several occasions.
With the victory, Donnie notched his 49th win and is unbeaten since 2004.
FLYWEIGHT. This is one of the deepest divisions in the sport talent- wise, underscored by the fact that its resident champion is currently the sport's reigning pound for pound king, Roman Gonzales (46-0, 38 KOs).
However, Gonzales has recently moved up to the 115lb division when he defeated Carlos Cuadras last week for the WBC super flyweight diadem.
Another top-tier fighter, Juan Francisco Estrada also vacated his WBO/WBA titles and moved up to super flyweight so this division is wide open right now.
Interestingly, aside from Nietes, there are two other Pinoy fighters in the top ten, as ranked by The Ring Magazine, John Reil Casimero and Brian Viloria.
Casimero who holds the IBF belt is ranked higher while former world champion Viloria is next to Nietes at no. 5.
The departure of both Chocolatito and Estrada leaves Japanese Kazuto Ioka (20-1, 12 KOs) as the top guy, but based on the grapevine, it could be Casimero who will get the first crack at him.
Nietes had moved up in weight seeking potential super-fights against either Gonzales and Estrada.
With the duo moving north, Donnie is still yearning for that career-defining moment.
As it is highly unlikely that Donnie will be fighting Casimero or Viloria anytime soon, a move up to the superflyweight division could potentially be in the horizon.
VERBATIM. "I didn't want to hurt ‘Bigfoot' more than I had to, .....I got taken by the moment, because it's like I'm beating the sh*t out of somebody.. but I wouldn't take it back. It just hurt me, that I've got to keep on hitting a guy that doesn't need to be hit."
-Roy Nelson on kicking ref John McCarthy ( www.MMAFighting.com)
LAST ROUNDS. Are on loving couple Louie and Maritess Reyes who are celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary and Lyndon Z. Naya who is celebrating his birthday today. Cheers guys! (jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)