Donnie Nietes forces Velarde to quit, retains junior flyweight championship

CEBU CITY, Philippines – All knockouts look the same on a boxer’s record, regardless of whether he was knocked unconscious by a single blow, spared from further punishment by the referee or if the boxer decides to end it on his own terms.

Donnie Nietes registered his third consecutive knockout in the fifth defense of his THE RING magazine/WBO junior flyweight championship on Saturday, November 15 at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines, stopping Mexico’s Carlos “Chapito” Velarde in the corner following the seventh round. 

To the present eye, the victory wasn’t as spectacular as could’ve been hoped for. Nietes (34-1-4, 20 knockouts), having dominated his reluctant opponent through the first six rounds with his superior craft and speed, clashed heads accidentally with Velarde, producing a serious gash on his right eyebrow that dripped blood immediately. 

After a brief inspection from the ring physician, the fight continued until the bell to end the round, when the visiting challenger threw in the towel. 

Velarde’s handlers argue that Nietes had been butting them all night, leaving them with no competitive chance, but the signs of surrender had manifested before the already crimson speckled canvas received a new coat of paint.

In the sixth, Velarde (26-4-1, 14 KOs) retreated to the ropes on two occasions, taking unanswered punches without reason. The fight had been all in favor of the native of Bacolod City, Philippines Nietes, whose superior left jab and hand speed forced Velarde out of his boxing approach and into an aggressive one.

Nietes had picked his spots well, countering whenever Velarde came forward and testing his resolve every so often with the sort of combinations that earned Nietes his ninth-round knockout of Moises Fuentes earlier this year in what has become his signature victory. 

“It takes an opponent to make it a great fight,” reasoned Michael Aldegeur, president of the company that represents Nietes, ALA Boxing. 

Another win, another title defense and free passage for Nietes to exceed the longest consecutive streak that a Filipino boxer has held a world title after seven years of reigning over the 105 then the 108 pound division. 

No Rodriguez, no flyweight…for now 

Nietes’ next fight, Aldegeur says, is set for February 14 on a card headlined by Chinese star Zou Shiming in Macau, China. Nietes won’t be moving four pounds up to flyweight, as had previously been floated around, and the fight won’t be against WBO/IBF strawweight champion Juan Francisco Jr. 

“Right now I think he’s more comfortable at 108 so we’ll stick to 108. The plan is really to go to 112,” said Aldegeur, who feels fights like WBA/WBO flyweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada and WBC flyweight titleholder Roman Gonzalez would enhance the 32-year-old Nietes’ legacy. 

Rodriguez (16-2-1, 11 KOs) of Monterrey, Mexico barely survived late replacement Jomar Fajardo (14-5-2, 7 KOs) of Iloilo, Philippines to salvage a ten-round split decision draw on the undercard. One judge scored the fight 96-94 for Fajardo, while another had it absurdly wide at 98-92 for Rodriguez. The third scored it 95-95 even.

Aldegeur feels the fight is no longer attractive to Filipino fans, and that Rodriguez’s injuries wouldn’t permit him to fight again in three months.

“With what Rodriguez is showing, I don’t know if this will be a good fight for Donnie,” said Aldegeur of the 21-year-old who sustained a possibly broken nose in round 3 and a hand injury that compromised his power in round two. “I think he even lost the fight. There’s no point in putting Rodriguez with Donnie.”

Edito Villamor, Nietes’ trainer, offered a postscript that was as simplistic as it was impossible to argue against.

“It’s not a bad way of ending the fight. They quit because they gave up in the fight,” said Villamor.

Sabillo upset in four rounds

Former WBO strawweight Merlito Sabillo was excited to return to the ring for the first time in eight months, to get back on the world title track following his one-sided tenth round TKO loss to Rodriguez Jr. in March. 

Unheralded Indonesian Faris Nenggo appeared to be a safe opponent for his first bout back, with his 8-6 record suggesting there wasn’t much winning spirit in him. That perception changed in the fourth round, when a left jab from Nenggo grazed the corner of Sabillo’s right eye at just the perfect angle to open up the skin.

And when it opened, it wouldn’t shut. 

At 2:02 of the fourth round, the referee halted the fight, awarding the 25-year-old Nenggo what is by far his biggest victory. The nature of the stoppage could warrant a rematch after a significant layoff to heal the 30-year-old Sabillo’s cuts.

Afterwards, Aldegeur expressed his disappointment in the outcome for the Bacolod City-born Sabillo (23-2-1, 12 KOs).

“Sabillo tonight saw a lot of things where we feel he’s not at that level anymore. Let’s face it, he fought a fighter from Indonesia and he lost the fight. He lost to a fighter who isn’t a great fighter,” said Aldegeur.

Also on the card, Milan Melindo (32-1, 12 KOs) of Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines earned a unanimous decision victory over Mexico’s Saul “Baby” Juarez (20-4, 11 KOs)  in his first fight since dropping from flyweight to 108 pounds.

The scores were 116-112, 115-112 and 118-111 for Melindo, who blamed the fight’s dull quality on Juarez’s unwillingness to engage. The style clash of two safety-first counterpunchers proved to be difficult for fans to enjoy, but earned Melindo the mandatory challenger spot to IBF junior flyweight champion Javier Mendoza (22-2-1, 18 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico.

Rounding out the televised portion of the card was junior featherweight Albert Pagara (22-0, 15 KOs), who turned in a complete performance against Raul Hirales (22-4-1, 11 KOs), dropping him once in the third on a series of right hands en route to a decision victory. Two judges scored all twelve rounds for Pagara 120-107, while a third found a stanza that Hirales won at 119-108.

The card will be aired on delay by ABS-CBN on Sunday morning, November 16. 

– Rappler.com