Nietes retains WBO jr fly title; Melindo, Servania triumph

FILIPINO boxer Donnie Nietes relied on his superior counterpunching skills to retain the WBO junior flyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Mexican Felipe Salguero Saturday night at the Resorts World Hotel.

Making the first defense of the title he won eight months ago, Nietes kept the Mexican challenger at bay with clever movements and stinging punches to win on all scorecards. Two judges scored the fight 116-112 for Nietes while the third judge had it at 115-113.

Milan Melindo and Genesis Servania provided the preliminary fireworks with knockout victories in the supporting bouts.

Melindo made quick work of Jesus Geles, stopping the Colombian former world champion with just 39 seconds remaining in the opening round to win the WBO International flyweight title.

Known for breaking down opponents with his methodical style, Melindo went for broke early on and caught Geles with vicious shots to the body.

Geles, who was three pounds overweight for the bout, beat the count early on, but another flurry of punches from Melindo finally ended his resistance. It was only Melindo’s 11th knockout win in 28 fights.

The win lined up Melindo for a possible showdown with reigning WBO champion Brian Viloria.

Servania kept his unbeaten record with a 12th round TKO over Mexican Genaro Garcia for the vacant WBO International Silver title. Cedelf P. Tupas