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Philippines, 08 Apr 2025 |
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NIETES INTERVIEW: 'AHAS' EYES DUBAI TITLE DEFENSE IN APRIL By Chito Yu Katangkatang PhilBoxing.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010  Bacolod City. Good day fellow boxing fans! I was lucky to catch WBO Minimumweight World Champ Donnie “Ahas” Nietes while he was in town. The ever humble Pride of Negros messaged me via Facebook that he was in town for his well deserved break after his recent TKO victory over Jesus Silvestre. I wasted no time in calling him and invited the Champ for an interview over dinner. I knew Donnie won’t refuse since it is on breaks such as these that they are allowed by their trainers to enjoy their lives as civilians and enjoy few bottles of beer, pulutan and other food which boxers can only wish for during training camps. One thing which I really appreciate about the Champ is his humility and simplicity despite the belt around his waist and his accomplishments inside the ring. Before having our dinner, we dropped by a beer joint where many of my boxing fans friends were hanging out for their TGIF beer night. The champ was generous in spending time posing for pictures with his fans. We had our dinner at a locally known sports grill and resto. We were joined by a good friend and fellow boxing fan from Escalante City, Dr. Pepo Hinolan who plans on trying out being a ring-side physician. Unlike my previous interview which seemed formal, we just had a casual chat with Donnie and but threw questions once in a while. Here are some stuff from our chat which I want to share with you guys. Author: Champ, when and where would be your next fight? Donnie: My manager told me it’s gonna be in Dubai this April against a yet to be announced opponent. Author: What if you have the luxury of choosing your next opponent, who do you want to face next? Donnie: I would love to fight Ivan Calderon or Roman Gonzales for title unification. Author: As a world champion, I’m sure you are already being paid a good deal of money per fight. How did you spend your fight earnings? Donnie: I was able to buy my own car. I’ve had our family home in Murcia renovated. Sir ALA Aldeguer gave me a residential lot in Cebu and I am planning to have a simple bungalow erected on the lot. I am also helping my parents and my other relatives financially. Author: Any plan of venturing in any business? Donnie: My uncle is a good boxing trainer. He is the one who trained me when I was a kid and he keeps on training kids and some amateur and pro boxers in Negros. Thus, I plan to put up a boxing gym which me and my uncle can utilize in training future boxing champs from Negros and it can also serve as a fitness gym for people who want to try boxing as a way of keeping themselves fit. Author: What makes you very loyal to ALA Gym and the Aldeguers? Donnie: Sir Tony Aldeguer is like a father to me. After my college studies, I used to work as a utility personnel for the ALA Gym and decided to try boxing. It was Mr. Aldeguer who gave me the chance to train and fight as a Pro Boxer. Sir Tony allowed us to stay at the ALA Compound for free and provided us with our needs. He is not only a manager to me, he is my family. I became a champ because of the discipline and values he taught me as a fighter. Author: Don, I just remembered, where’s your pet snake? Where did you get him? Instead of Ahas I think it would be more “astig” to call you Donnie “Zuma” Nietes. LOL. Donnie: My pet’s name is Don. Don’t like the name Zuma, it sounds too heavyweight when you think of Max Laurel. LOL. What you guys don’t know is that I found Don as an egg and nurtured him until he was hatched into this world. That’s why he thinks I’m his real parent. LOL. But seriously, he was still an egg when I found him. Author: Ok Don enough with eggs, it makes me think of Mayweather. The man who would rather cherry pick his opponents rather than have his “egg” devoured by the Pacman. Speaking of Mayweather, do you think he really wants to fight Mosley? He has already signed the contract. Donnie: To see is to believe. (Grinning) Besides, Pacman could have been the better fight in order for him to regain his status as P4P King. Author: What is your prediction on the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight? I would personally bet on a late round KO. Donnie: Clottey is a big guy and has a hard chin. I think it will go the distance. But Manny is very unpredictable, so I still wouldn’t be surprised if he beats Clottey by a brutal KO. Author: Any plan of moving up in weight? At what age do you want to retire? Donnie: I am still comfortable at 105 but I am pretty sure I can carry my weight well up to bantamweight. Retirement is nowhere in my sight. I can retire when I’m…. maybe when I’m 40. LOL. Author: I think I have covered everything I wanted to ask for my article. Thanks Champ. Are we done with dinner? Maybe you wanna try beer below zero. I know a good spot. Donnie: Sure Sir, I don’t have any curfew since it’s my break but I need to go jogging at 6 AM. (see the discipline?) Author: Ok Champ, don’t worry about your jogging tomorrow. We won’t stay up that late since I’m scared of my wife while Doc Pepo here has a duty at the Dialysis Center at 7AM. Staying up to midnight won’t be bad I suppose? Donnie: Sure sure. Go lets. Mingaw na ko below zero nga beer. LOL. One thing I have learned about Donnie Nietes is that his glory and pride as a world champion never got to his head. His feet remain planted on the ground and when he is out of the training camp, he is just another ordinary guy who loves doing all the fun things that we all love to do. To Donnie, thanks champ! Sa uulitin. Top photo (L-R): The author, Donnie Nietes, Dr. Pepo Hinolan. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Chito Yu Katangkatang.  |
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