Donnie Nietes: Old warrior in a hurry?
Donnie Nietes. FILE PHOTO
As expected, Donnie Nietes, star of the ALA stable, won his world flyweight championship fight against an obscure Thai foe in Cebu on Sunday. The victory made Nietes a three-division world title winner.
Nietes, 34, however failed in his vow to score a knockout.
Nietes had to air the KO threat after he was branded old by the 27-year-old Nomgrich Nantapech.
“I may be old, but my body is getting young,” an irritated Nietes blurted on the eve of battle.
That was easy to believe because, after being cramped up in the 108 lb light flyweight division, which he had ruled with aplomb, Nietes could only be expected to be stronger as a full flyweight.
Unfortunately, things did not turn out as predicted.
Nietes had a sensational start, visibly sputtered and fought loose in the middle rounds, before being put to a test in the homestretch.
After the bout, Nietes, with the IBF world flyweight belt in hand, was overheard as explaining his Thai foe, a 25-1 underdog, proved too tough.
The handlers of Nietes also pointed to his swollen right hand, which he had supposedly hurt in the sixth round, as the culprit.
Anyway, while he had been expected to breeze through the weighing scales, it took Nietes a total of three tries before finally clearing 112 lb.
Naturally, there next came questions on whether or not he was truly at home in the full flyweight division, now that he’s fast nearing 35.
Nietes next announced he wanted to fight unification bouts against champions in the other world boxing organizations.
Nietes, no doubt, is in a great rush to stamp his class in the WBO, WBC and WBA—a tough climb.
It’s a bit bothersome though that, at this creaky stretch in his career, Nietes has been left to wage an emotional race against fast-closing Father Time.
