Nietes vacates WBO throne, eyes pricey fights

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Donnie Nietes chose to give up his WBO super flyweight crown and pursue big fights elsewhere.

That means he won’t get to do a rematch with fellow Filipino Aston Palicte amid the heated back-and-forth between their two camps.

In the end, the 36-year-old felt he must level up his career by chasing big-money fights. His hit list includes Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Juan Francisco Estrada, who are movers and shakers in their weight classes.

“Also, I want to give my fellow Filipino Aston Palicte a chance to fight for the World title and bring pride and glory to our country,” Nietes said in a statement issued on Friday.

Palicte’s camp has earlier said they will make a deal for a world title, a prospect that is very likely, considering the Bago City native is being handled by Roy Jones Jr., Promotions.

Nietes and Palicte fought to a split draw for the same crown that was vacant back in September in the United States. Nietes then got to claim the title after scoring a split decision win over Japanese Kazuto Ioka last Dec. 31.

Palicte fashioned out a second-round knockout over Jose Martinez on Jan. 31 and the WBO quickly ordered a mandatory fight between the two Filipino fighters.

But the camps failed to reach an agreement, prompting WBO to call on a purse bid that also fell through with Nietes’ decision to drop the crown.