Donnie Nietes made an impressive ring comeback, outboxing Pablo Carillo of Colombia to claim the WBO international junior bantamweight title at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai on Easter Sunday, Manila time.
Belying his age, the 38-year-old, former 4-division world champion proved he still has more left in his tank to beat his younger opponent by unanimous decision.
Carillo tried to topple Nietes by throwing heavy bombs, but the Filipino boxer demonstrated superior ring IQ, landing well-placed counter right hands and uppercuts as he circled away from the Carillo’s right hand.
Judges scored the bout 96-95, 98-92, 99-91 all in favor of Nietes.
With the victory, Nietes improved his record to 43-1-5, while Carillo fell to 25-8-1.
It was Nietes’ first fight after being sidelined for more than 2 years.
He last fought on December 31, 2018 in Macau, defeating Japan’s Kazuto Ioka via split decision to win the WBO junior bantamweight title.
Nietes, however, vacated the throne after refusing to fight countryman Aston Palicte for a second time.
He said he has wanted to secure a dream fight against any of the three kings of the super flyweight division, including Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
