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Philippines, 18 Mar 2026 |
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DONNIE "AHAS" NIETES -- THE PHILIPPINES' MOST UNDERRATED AND DEPENDABLE WORLD CHAMPION PhilBoxing.com Thu, 22 Jul 2010  As a young lad from Bacolod City, Philippines looking for his place in this world, Donnie Nietes reached the shores of Cebu City to look for work. An unassuming boy who only had his drive and dreams with him, never in his wildest dreams that he thought he would be a world champion in the hard nose sport of boxing. This is his story. Donnie in his late teens decided to leave his native city of Bacolod to seek for greener pastures in the Philippines Queen City of the South, Cebu. He tried to apply for work in different establishments but he wouldn?t be employed until he heard about this philanthropist named Antonio Lopez Aldeguer of the world renowned ALA Boxing Gym. A great man who is known to be the Philippines Boxing Patron, Aldeguer gave this soft-spoken youngster a chance in life. Nietes now had a job. He became the gym janitor. Working as ALA Gyms janitor, Donnie went about his daily routine sweeping floors, cutting grass and feeding the resident pet snakes of the gym. He was the only one who had the guts to go into the snake pit to clean and feed these reptiles. Bitten more than a couple of times while doing his job, Nietes would then befriend these snakes and these snakes would bite him no more. That is when the boxers and employees of the gym started calling him ?Ahas?, which means snake. The unpretentious Ahas would do his job with much passion and consistency but little did the people around him know that while doing his daily chores, he was studying the boxers and trainers work-out and was secretly practicing what he has observed during his off time. Believing that he could do better than the other guys training in the gym and encouraged by his peers, he then approached ALA and asked if he could try his hand in boxing. He worked, trained and boxed. He persevered and debuted as a professional boxer in 2003 and became a national champion the following year. Fight after fight Donnie continued to improve and finally got his chance to fight for a world championship. He fought a then undefeated Pornsawarn Kratingdaenggym of Thailand for the vacant WBO Minimum-weight World Title on September 30, 2007 at the Waterfront Cebu Hotel and Casino in Cebu City, Philippines and floored his Thai opponent in the fourth round and won via 12th round unanimous decision to wrest the title. World champion Nietes has to date managed to defend his title three times with wins over big names Eddy Castro via second round TKO here in the Philippines, a unanimous decision win over highly regarded Mexican Eric Ramirez in his own hometown in Mexico flooring his foe four times in the fight and battled interim champion Manuel Vargas of Mexico still in Mexican territory winning via split decision. The current world champion Donnie Nietes is one of the Philippines longest reigning champions in history. Here are names of champions and former world champions: CURRENT WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONS 1. Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao WBO Welterweight Champion, November 14, 2009 - IBO Light Welterweight Champion, May 2, 2009 - RING Light Welterweight Champion, May 2, 2009 - WBC Lightweight Champion, June 28, 2008 - RING Super Featherweight Champion, March 15, 2008 - WBC Super Featherweight Champion, March 15, 2008 - June 28, 2008 WBC International Super Featherweight Champion, Sep 10, 2005 - March 15, 2008 RING Featherweight Champion, Nov 15, 2003 - Jun 22, 2005 IBF Super Bantamweight Champion, Jun 23, 2001 - Jan 1, 2004 WBC Flyweight Champion, Dec 4, 1998 - Sep 17, 1999 2. Donnie "Ahas" Nietes WBO Minimumweight Champion, Sep 30, 2007 - PRESENT TOP FIVE LONGEST REINGNING FILIPINO WORLD CHAMPIONS 1. Gabriel "Flash" Elorde WBA Super Featherweight Champion, Feb 16, 1963 - Jun 15, 1967 WBC Super Featherweight Champion, Mar 16, 1960 - Jun 15, 1967(7 YEARS 3 MONTHS) 2. Jesus "The Hawaiian Punch" Salud IBC Super Featherweight Champion, Jun 7, 1990 - Apr 18, 1992 WBA Super Featherweight Champion, Dec 11, 1989 - Nov 26, 1995(6 years 11 months) 3. Luisito "Lindol" Espinosa WBC Featherweight Champion, Dec 11, 1995 - May 15, 1999(3 years 5 months) WBA Bantamweight Champion, Oct 18, 1989 - Oct 19, 1991 4. Ben Villaflor WBA Super Featherweight Champion, Oct 17, 1973 - Oct 16, 1976(2 years 11 months) WBA Super Featherweight Champion, Apr 25, 1972 - Mar 12, 1973 5. Donnie "Ahas" Nietes WBO Minimumweight Champion, Sep 30, 2007 - WBO Minimumweight World Champion Nietes has been champion for over two years now and if he is successful in his 3rd defense in Mexico this August 14, Donnie will be the longest active champion in the Philippines by September 30, 2010 holding his title for three years in succession. Donnie is one of the two remaining legitimate world champions in the Philippines the other one being Filipino hero Manny Pacquiao. GMA Network Television has recently signed the world champion Nietes for a deal to show his fights to the boxing hungry Filipino fans. This development would impact such a fighter like Nietes who has been unfairly under the radar considering his accomplishments he has achieved not only for himself but for the Philippines as well. The Ahas when asked on being signed by Television network GMA, says he is very thankful and is very excited to be working with them. Nietes is still working hard and strong and says he will do all he can to remain boxing champion for his sport gave him the decent life he has today. Donnie recently completed building and blessing his house in Cebu. Surely a rags to riches story in the making, Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes? chronicle is one tale that truly inspires.  |
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