Newly crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight titleholder Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes wants to face other world champions in unification bouts but stressed that he?s not avoiding a rematch with fellow Filipino pug Aston Palicte.
The fight between Palicte and Nietes last September 8 in California ended in a controversial split draw.
?I?m not avoiding anyone and I?m willing to fight anyone, the 36-year-old Nietes from Murcia, Negros Occidental said in Filipino. ?If he became a mandatory challenger, I will face him,? added Nietes, pertaining to the 27-year-old Palicte.
To face Nietes, Palicte (24-2-1 record with 20 knockouts) needs to win first in a WBO title-eliminator match against Jose Martinez of Puerto Rico on January 31 at the Viejas Casino and Resort in Alpine, California.
Nietes became a four-division world champion after beating Japanese Kazuto Ioka via split decision in Macau for the vacant WBO crown on New Year?s Eve. He now wants to take on the top boxers in the super flyweight class among them World Boxing Council super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand and former world champions Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico and Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez of Nicaragua.
