Fuentes Arrives Early, Determined To Defeat Nietes

By Ronnie Nathanielsz –

Mexico’s mandatory challenger for the WBO light flyweight title of Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, Moises Fuentes, arrived yesterday a full ten days before his scheduled rematch which promises to be an all-out war.

Fuentes who arrived with trainer Julio Barrera, brother of Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera looked “really good, ripped and ready” according to ALA Promotions vice president Dennis Canete.

Fuentes and his supporters including Marco Antonio Barrera in whose gym he trains, expressed their displeasure over the majority draw that enabled Nietes to retain his title in their first clash and have vowed to avenge that setback in which American judges Adalaide Byrd and Pat Russel scored the fight a 114-114 draw while Filipino judge Danrex Tapdasan whose assignment the Fuentes camp initially objected to, had Nietes the winner 115-113.

Nietes himself was not satisfied with the decision and is determined to erase any doubts as to who is indeed the champion.

He has trained harder than ever before for the much-awaited showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena on May 10 and has vowed not to make the same mistakes he made in their first fight by getting drawn into a brawl with Fuentes who likes to drive his opponent against the ropes and throw flurries  to the body and head.

ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard that if Nietes only sticks to the gameplan he should have no trouble overcoming the challenge of Fuentes.

Nietes who is chasing the record of the late Gabriel “Flash” Elorde who reigned as world junior lightweight champion for nearly seven-and-a-half- years trained in the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and also in San Diego and sparred with hard-hitting former world champion Giovanni Segura and American Matthew Villanueva.

Fuentes who has a record of 19-1-1 with 10 knockouts has won three bouts in a row since the Nietes title fight, scoring TKO victories over Luis De La Rosa who lost badly to IBF champion Johnreil Casimero and Omar Salado.

Nietes, on the other hand, is coming off a spectacular 3rd round TKO over former WBC Silver champion Sammy Gutierrez last November in a fight when Nietes dropped Gutierrez three times, twice in the opening round.

The “Pinoy Pride XXV” fight  card will be telecast by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN WITH 2012 “Fighter of the Year” Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire joining Atty. Ed Tolentino and this reporter on the television panel.

http://www.boxingscene.com/fuentes-arrives-early-determined-defeat-nietes–77285

By Ronnie Nathanielsz –

WBO light flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, who clashes in a mandatory rematch against Mexico’s Moises Fuentes at the Mall of Asia Arena on May 10 has looked impressive in training.

ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard  “Donnie is ready for this chance. It’s the biggest fight out there for Donnie. It will be a tough fight. I’ve never seen him work so hard – he trained in the US has a great conditioning coach now in Nick Curson and he’s ready to go.”

Aldeguer said Nietes who is chasing the record of the late junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde who reigned as champion for almost seven-and-a-half years “ is really right up  there. This is a fight that is going to be defining is career. We are happy to bring it to the Philippines.”

He said Nietes “has to stick to the game plan. He has a good right – picks his punches” but was carried away in his first encounter with Fuentes when he “got into a brawl which is not his fight.”

Aldeguer disclosed that right now his trainers as well as Nietes  “are reviewing the tapes and looking at what he did right and what he did wrong”. He believes Nietes “has matured a lot. He knows that to make history this is the fight. If he wants to break the record of Flash Elorde this is the fight that will define him and his career.”

Nietes showed he had power when he dropped former WBC Silver champion Sammy Gutierrez three times en route to a 3rd round TKO at the  famed Araneta Coliseum and showed he has power.

Aldeguer noted that “early in his career Donnie was one of the biggest punchers we had in the stable and he then became a very calculating fighter. He knew how to win and became comfortable with that.”

Nietes understands that against Fuentes “ that he needs a convincing win and needs to dominate Fuentes and do the right things and I think he’s learned a lot. He is ready to go and it’s a fight for his life. And I think it wont be an easy fight  but I think it will define what Donnie really is.”

Aldeguer believes that if he followed the game plan in their first fight “he would have won easily. There is no question why he will not win” in the rematch.

http://www.boxingscene.com/nietes-aims-convincing-win-fuentes-rematch–77034

DONNIE ‘Ahas’ Nietes is leaving nothing to chance in his rematch against Moises Fuentes for the World Boxing Organization light-flyweight title on May 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The reigning champion is aware the majority 12-round draw he eked out in his first meeting with the Mexican a year ago at the Waterfront Hotel and Resort in Cebu left a bad taste in the mouth, so much so that he vows to go for a knockout if given the chance.

“Ina-knockout ko siya ‘pag may time,” said the two-time world champion in Tuesday’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate. “‘Pag may chance, patutumbahin ko siya.”

Proof that he’s preparing hard against the 28-year-old challenger from Mexico City, Nietes spent the early part of his training in the US, where he sparred with the likes of former world champion Giovanni Segura and American Matthew Villanueva.

Now back in the country, the pride of Murcia, Negros Occidental will complete the second part of his training in Cebu.

“Grabe ang paghahandang ginagawa namin ngayon, kaya kumpiyansa akong mapapanatili ko ang korona,” said Nietes (32-1-4, 18 KOs), who will be turning 32 three days after the fight.

But ALA Promotions vice president Dennis Canete, who was also a guest in the forum presented by Shakey’s, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, was quick to add the mandatory title defense of Nietes won’t come in handy.

“Every rematch is dangerous,” Canete admitted. “Siyempre, na-gauge ka na nu’ng opponent mo and Moises Fuentes is a great fighter. So it’s going to be tough.”

A former WBO minimumweight title holder who fought and won against the likes of Ivan Calderon and Raul Garcia, Fuentes (19-1-1, 10 KOs) is a on a three-fight winning streak since facing Nietes, including technical knockout victories in his last two matches against Luis De la Rosa and Omar Salado.

Nietes on the other hand, is fresh from a sensational third-round technical knockout of Sammy Gutierrez last November at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

At the same time, the heartbreaking 10th round loss suffered by stablemate Merlito Sabillo to Francisco Rodriguez of Mexico to yield his WBO 105-lbs. crown over the weekend, also serves as added motivation to Nietes in his fight against Fuentes.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/03/26/nietes-promises-to-ko-fuentes-in-opportunity-arises/