Nietes shows no rust, dominates Carrillo in Dubai

Donnie Nietes remains a formidable force in the super flyweight division.

Tactical and technical, Nietes trounced Pablo Carrillo by unanimous decision to clinch the vacant World Boxing Organization international super flyweight crown on Saturday, April 3 (April 4, Sunday, Manila time) at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A physical marvel at 38 years old, Nietes showed no rust after a 27-month break and dominated the game Colombian to win by scores of 99-91, 97-93, 96-95, and rejoin the elite 115-pound fighters.

Nietes, a four-division world champion, proved he has the right to challenge the big guns of the division like Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada, Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez, and Thai Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

If none of them answer his longtime challenge, Nietes can settle for a rematch with Japanese Kazuto Ioka, the current WBO world champion the pride of Murcia, Negros Occidental beat by split decision the last time they fought in December 2018.

Sticking to his decision to stay from fellow Filipinos whenever possible, Nietes isn’t considering International Boxing Federation champion Jerwin Ancajas among his probable foes within the last two years he believes can still compete at the highest level.

Benefiting from a long, rigid training under Edmund Villamor and quality sparring from other former stars of the defunct ALA Promotions like Jeo Santisima and KJ Cataraja, Nietes even proved to be the busier fighter, throwing 426 punches to Carrillo’s 416 and connecting more, 97-81, according to Compubox.

Still elusive and sneaky, Nietes landed 39 of 241 jabs against Carrillo’s 21 of 195. Hoping for a knockout, Carrilo unleashed 221 power punches of which 60 got through. Nietes delivered only 134 but was more accurate with 58 hits.

Nietes, who tasted his first and last defeat in 2004, raised his record to 43-1-5 with 23 knockouts, while Carrillo fell to 25-8-1 with 16 knockouts.

Jemmel Herring sent Carl Frampton into retirement with a sixth-round stoppage and continued his reign as WBO junior lightweight champion in the main event. – Rappler.com