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Philippines, 12 Feb 2026 |
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PINOY PRIDE XXIII: FILIPINOS KONTRA LATINOS PRESSCON HIGHLIGHTS By Rene Bonsubre, Jr. PhilBoxing.com Thu, 28 Nov 2013  Sabillo (L) and Buitrago. QUEZON CITY ? WBO world light flyweight champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes (31-1-4, 17KO?s) is not taking Mexican challenger Sammy Gutierrez (33-9-2, 23 KO's) for granted but he thinks that their fight on Saturday is a ?title fight and a tune-up fight.? ?I trained hard and I will go for a knockout,? Nietes emphatically stated. Gutierrez remained calm but promised to bring the belt back to his country. He also promised a ring war and cited the ongoing boxing rivalry between Mexico and the Philippines. Gutierrez is coming off a loss due to a cut in his last bout to Raul Garcia. Gutierrez has also lost to other name boxers like Nkosinathi Joyi and Omar Ni?o Romero.He is a former WBC Silver champion and former WBA interim world minimumweight champion. Nietes, who is also a former WBO minimumweight champion, is set to face Moises Fuentes in a rematch next year. They previously fought to a majority draw in Cebu. SOMEBODY?S ?0? MUST GO The co-main event will feature two undefeated fighters, WBO world minimumweight champion Merlito ?Tigre? Sabillo (23-0, 12 KO's) will take on Carlos Buitrago (27-0, 16 KO's) of Nicaragua. Sabillo said that the knockout will happen anytime once the opportunity presents itself. Buitrago stated that he trained hard for two months for this shot at the world title. He is the interim champion but he wants to be the regular champion. He cites his Mexican opponents as his toughest foes. This bout will be aired live to Nicaragua. Both Nietes and Sabillo are inspired by the recent success of Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao, who both suffered disappointing losses but came back to score resounding wins. GAB Chairman Juan Ramon Guanzon takes pride in the fact that Bacolodnons Nietes and Sabillo both came from the amateur boxing grassroots program of the Negros Amateur Boxing Association. The two world title contests will be supervised by WBO Asia-Pacific VP Leon Panoncillo. ALA Promotions Pres and CEO Michael Aldeguer said that he initially had doubts about pushing through with this card after the back to back natural disasters that hit the country. But he knew that this was a great opportunity to show the world that the country is capable of staging a huge fight card and also to show that the Filipinos can rise from adversity after experiencing natural calamities. ABS-CBN?s Golden voice Peter Musngi announced that proceeds of PINOY PRIDE XXIII: FILIPINOS KONTRA LATINOS will be given to ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya for the relief operations for the typhoon-stricken Eastern Visayas region. ALA Gym Trainer Edito Villamor guaranteed a sweep for Team Philippines. Milan ?El Metodico? Melindo (29-1, 12 KO?s) will face Jose Alfredo ?Torito? Rodriguez (29-2, 18 KO?s) of Mexico. Melindo emphasized the importance of this bout after suffering his first loss at the hands of WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada in Macau last July. ?This is a chance for me to fight for another world title,? Melindo said, ?I want to go up the ratings so I can fight for a world title as soon as possible.? Jason ?El Ni?o? Pagara (31-2, 19 KO?s) is set to square off against Vladimir Baez (19-1-2, 17 Ko?s) of the Dominican Republic. Both Pagara and Melindo are WBO International titlist in their divisions. AJ ?Bazooka? Banal (29-2-2, 21 KO?s) will be up against Puerto Rican Lucian Gonzales (16-7-2, 5KO?s) in a non-title contest. Jimrex "Executioner" Jaca (38-6-3, 21KO's) will fight Indonesian Wellem Reyk (17-7-3, 5 KO's) in a six rounder. The official weigh-in will be on Friday noon at Robinson?s Galleria. Fight day for PINOY PRIDE 23 is November 30 at 6PM at the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum.  Nietes (L) and Gutierrez.  Melindo (L) and Rodriguez.  Pagara (L) and Baez.  Banal (L) and Gonzalez.  Pinoy Pride 23 casts with officials. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..  |
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