Donnie Nietes is getting quality time while entrenched at the Wild Card Boxing Club of Freddie Roach, looking more and more relaxed as he heads to his crucial flyweight debut on Sept. 24 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Sparring has been topnotch as Nietes has banged bodies with Ricardo Rodriguez and Chinese Olympic legend and the Roach-trained Zou Shiming the last four weeks.
Nietes meets former world champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico in what will serve as his stepping stone to a promised shot at the world flyweight title next year.
?Donnie?s sparring is doing great and he?s done about 50 rounds with Rodriguez and Shiming and a few others,? said chief trainer Edito ?Ala? Villamor yesterday from Los Angeles.
If victorious, Nietes will attempt to become a three-division titleholder when he vies for the flyweight championship possibly against Mexican kingpin Juan Francisco Estrada.
Sosa, who has beaten several Filipinos, including Brian Viloria, is also doing the same thing in Mexico City under the watchful eyes of Jorge Barrera, brother of retired Mexican great Marco Antonio.
Also undergoing rigorous training at the Wild Card are feather prospect Mark Magsayo and super-fly King Arthur Villanueva.
Before deciding to try his luckin the fly ranks, Nietes reigned as world champion at minimumweight (105 lbs) and light-flyweight (112 lbs).
