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Philippines, 17 Sep 2025 |
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NIETES-PALICTE 'MEET & GREET'- THE DONORS HELPED MAKE IT HAPPENED PhilBoxing.com Sun, 26 Aug 2018  Putting up events like the ?Meet and Greet? recently held for the LA Filipino community to get them to know two of the greatest Filipino Superflyweights, Donnie Nietes and Aston Palicte, takes a lot of energy, commitment and resources. And when one starts with only the first two and very little of the third, the challenge becomes enormous. But its not totally hopeless particularly when volunteers come to extend a helping hand. Bayanihan style, so the Filipinos would say. This is what happened when two boxing enthusiasts, Jay Otamias and Ed de la Vega, decided to do something to allow the community a rare opportunity to rub elbows with our fighters. After all, it?s not everyday that we get two Filipinos fighting for a world title. In fact, the Nietes-Palicte bout is only the third time in the last 90 years that two Filipinos fight for a world title. The first one was in 1925 between Pancho Villa and Clever Sencio and the second, in May 2018 between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan at Fresno, California. 
Nietes signs gloves. 
Palicte signs gloves. Armed only with will power and determination, Otamias and De La Vega got the ball rolling. Adding to their misery is the fact that they only had a little over two weeks to get the job done. Then great things happened! Donors started popping up from nowhere. Leading the parade was Mr Abas Ahmadi of South Coast Mitsubishi the famed car dealership located at Costa Mesa, California. Local restaurants that donated food enough to feed over 100 people followed him. Many donated stuff for auction like gloves and t-shirts that were signed by both Nietes and Palicte. Mandirigma Clothing Co of LA added more t-shirts by donating one-of-a-kind t-shirts for auction. Someone even covered the cost of printing of the posters and a DJ came to provide the sound system. 
Mr Ahmadi did not only help in putting up the event. He sent one of his associates, Jay Conte to give away t-shirts, a very popular way to attract Filipino boxing fans to any event. On top of that, he sponsored Aston Palicte providing training outfits and resources for training. Least we forget, the folks at the LA Filipino Cultural Center did their part as well. They provided the use of the center for free, save for the little cash to pay for the post event cleanup. As a gesture of gratitude Otamias and De La Vega gave the center a framed and signed photo of Nietes and Palicte to complement the first one we gave that had a photo of Ancajas and Sultan. 
The support from Tom Loefller?s 360 Promotions was beyond awesome. They sent the backdrop for the event and also the Tecate Girls to help drum up the crowd. The response to the event was more than expected. Media folks not only from the community but also from the main stream came to be a part of it. With that, it may well be that a trendsetter has been made and events like this will be done more often. Finally, our sincere thanks to the following for their support of the event: Fiesta Fast Food, AquaCycling, EnergiX Gym and Fitness Center, Aesthetically Property Marketing, Mandirigma Shirt Co., A8 Creative, Weekend Balita, Motion Plus, Bambo Grill, Universal Cargo and Berkshire Hattaway Home Services.  |
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