Nietes dominates Rodriguez to retain junior flyweight championship

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Philippines still has one boxing world champion. 

Donnie Nietes successfully defended his World Boxing Organization and The Ring magazine junior flyweight championship on Saturday, July 11 with a master-class boxing exhibition against mandatory challenger Francisco Rodriguez at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines. 

Nietes (36-1-4, 21 knockouts) of Murcia, Negros Occidental retained the title by the judges’ scores of 115-113, 119-109 and 118-110 over Rodriguez (17-3-1, 11 KOs) of Monterrey, Mexico.

Nietes, though 11 years older than his opponent at 33, appeared fresh throughout the fight, moving and jabbing effortlessly in the seventh defense of his championship.

Nietes’ biggest round of the fight came in round six when his uppercuts rocked Rodriguez with uppercuts and left hooks. It was in that round that Nietes believes he broke his right hand after landing a right cross to the top of Rodriguez’s head.

“My hand really hurt and I couldn’t throw it very hard anymore after,” said Nietes.

By the twelfth round, both Nietes and Rodriguez were bleeding, with Nietes’ right eye nicked from an accidental elbow and Rodriguez’s nose pouring from the accurate jabs of Nietes.

Rodriguez’s relentless aggression found some success in the early rounds, with Nietes admitting that a body shot in round 3 hurt him. Nietes’ promoter Michael Aldeguer of ALA Promotions says he will have the hand x-rayed in Cebu on Sunday and will likely seek further treat in Manila.

Aldeguer says the injury and cut make a planned November return for Nietes questionable. Aldeguer adds that he isn’t sure whether to move Nietes up to 112 pounds for his next fight, despite the lack of remaining challenges at 108 pounds.

“It’s never easy to put unification bouts,” Aldeguer says of matching Nietes with other titleholders at 108 pounds. “Nobody wants to fight nobody.”

A move to 112 would open up matchups with RING flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) of Nicaragua and WBA/WBO flyweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada (32-2, 23 KOs) of Mexico.

Villamor says a matchup with Estrada would be an “easy fight.”

Rodriguez, who was defeated in 7 rounds by Gonzalez in 2013, says that he thinks Nietes would suffer the same fate if he fought Gonzalez. Four-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr, who trained alongside Nietes for his fight next week in Macau, said he thinks Nietes has a “good chance” against Gonzalez.

Rodriguez, who didn’t address the media at the post-fight press conference and wore sunglasses afterwards to conceal his swelling, says he feels he deserved the decision over Nietes, arguing that Nietes was holding and running excessively.

Nietes has reigned for nearly 8 years since winning his first title at 105 pounds in 2007, making him the longest continuous reigning titleholder in Philippine boxing history.  

Nietes remains the only Filipino boxer with a world championship, after Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight title in a decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr in May, and both Nonito Donaire Jr and Johnriel Casimero lost their belts at featherweight and junior flyweight in 2014, respectively.

In the co-featured bout, featherweight prospect Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo (11-0, 9 KOs) of Tagbilaran City, Philippines emerged as one of the country’s most promising young fighters with a fifth-round knockout of Rafael Reyes (16-5, 12 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

 

This sort of stuff is why I believe Mark Magsayo is the next big thing in Philippine #boxing pic.twitter.com/mkqwYzP78s

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) July 12, 2015

 

Magsayo, 20, knocked the iron-chinned Reyes down in round 3 on body punches before finishing him in round 5 with a left uppercut that split the guard at the 2:29 mark. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.