Nietes, Velarde make weight for junior flyweight championship fight

Ryan Songalia

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Nietes, Velarde make weight for junior flyweight championship fight
World junior flyweight champion Donnie Nietes weighed in at 107.5 pounds while Carlos Velarde came in at 108 for Saturday's Pinoy Pride 28 main event

CEBU CITY, Philippines – RING magazine/WBO junior flyweight champion weighed in half a pound under the weight limit at 107.5, while his opponent Carlos “Chapito” Velarde clocked in at exactly 108 on Friday, November 14 at the Robinsons Fuente mall for their fight on Saturday’s Pinoy Pride 28 card at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines.

Nietes (33-1-4, 19 knockouts) of Bacolod City, Philippines will be making his fifth title defense while Velarde (26-3-1, 14 KOs) of Culiacan, Mexico makes his second challenge of a world title. The twelve-round bout will be refereed by Las Vegas-based official Robert Byrd after Samuel Viruet, who was initially slated to referee the fight, reportedly missed his flight.

(RELATED: Donnie Nietes: The biggest little man in Philippine boxing)

One-time flyweight title challenger Milan Melindo (31-1, 12 KOs) of Cagayan de Oro City weighed in at 107.5 pounds in his first fight since dropping to junior flyweight. His opponent Saul Juarez (20-3, 11 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico weighed 107 pounds.

Milan Melindo (L) stares down Saul "Baby" Juarez before his first bout since dropping down to 108 pounds. Photo by Ryan Songalia

Melindo’s lone defeat came against WBA/WBO flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada in 2013. The winner will be the mandatory challenger for IBF flyweight champion Javier Mendoza (22-2-1, 18 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, who won the vacant title last month after Filipino boxer Johnriel Casimero was stripped of it for failing to make weight.

Former WBO strawweight champion Merlito Sabillo (23-1-1, 12 KOs) weighed in at 107 pounds while his Indonesian opponent Faris Nenggo (8-6-3, 2 KOs) tallied the same weight. Sabillo of Bacolod City is fighting for the first time since losing his world title to Francisco Rodriguez Jr by tenth-round technical knockout in March of this year. 

Rodriguez, coincidentally, is also on Saturday’s card. The Monterrey, Mexico native Rodriguez (16-2, 11 KOs) weighed 113 pounds – 8 above the division where he holds the WBO and IBF titles – for his ten-round non-title bout with Filipino Jomar Fajardo (14-5-1, 7 KOs), who weighed 112.

Rodriguez has expressed his desire to move to 108 pounds and challenge Nietes, who will decide whether to stay at junior flyweight or move to 112 after Saturday’s fight. – Rappler.com

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