MANILA, Philippines ? Not being a reigning titleholder is something Donnie Nietes will have to get used to. The Filipino boxer formally relinquished the WBO junior flyweight title on Thursday at a press conference in Manila, opting to move up in weight rather than fulfill a mandatory against Moises Fuentes, whom Nietes has already knocked out in their May 2014 rematch.
Friday was his first official day as a ?former? champion since he first captured the belt in 2011 (Nietes is still listed as THE RING magazine flyweight champion) and it was a day he spent training hard at the ALA Gym in Quezon City.
The 34-year-old is set to face former junior fly champ Edgar Sosa on Sept. 24 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California in his first test at 112 pounds. It?s unclear what Sosa has left at age 36, having but one fight since a second round knockout loss to Roman Gonzalez in May of 2015, but Nietes isn?t leaving anything to chance.
?He isn?t just any boxer; he?s a good boxer and a former champion, so, I wouldn?t be too confident. That?s why I?m really training hard,? said Nietes (38-1-4, 22 knockouts) of Sosa, whose record stands at 52-9 (30 KOs).
Nietes is set to fly out Saturday night at 9 p.m. for Los Angeles to complete training at the Wild Card Boxing Club. Trainer Edito Villamor says there he?ll consult Freddie Roach for sparring partners.
Along with Nietes and Edito Villamor will be co-trainer Edmund Villamor, plus featherweight Mark Magsayo (who will face an opponent to be named on Nietes? undercard) and bantamweight Arthur Villanueva (who will face Juan Jimenez in a rematch of their fight last May, which ended controversially after Villanueva was credited for a knockout caused by a headbutt).
For Nietes, the time was right to move up in weight. Not only because the bigger names are at 112 but because his aging body was having difficulty cutting to 108.
?I actually had a difficult experience in the junior flyweight division to the point that I suffered from dehydration. I conditioned myself to climb a new division and fight with big names and champions,? Nietes said in Tagalog. Prior to Friday?s workout, he said he was 125 pounds.
The move to 112 could set up fights with WBA/WBO flyweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada, whom Nietes? promoter ALA Boxing has said they were targeting for a matchup in 2017. Edito Villamor also mentioned pound-for-pound king and RING/WBC champion Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez, though Gonzalez may be done with flyweight as he?s set to face WBC junior bantamweight titleholder Carlos Cuadras on Sept. 10.
?Maybe they?ll give me a fight with those big names and world champions. That?s what I?m actually waiting and hoping for. But right now, I?m just training hard,? said Nietes.
The Sosa fight will be Nietes? second in the United States. His first, a one-sided decision win over Juan Alejo in October of 2015, made little impact on the American boxing audience, which had tuned in to watch Gonzalez?s stoppage win over Brian Viloria.
Nietes says achieving the crossover stardom his compatriot Manny Pacquiao and, to a lesser degree, Nonito Donaire Jr. enjoyed means little to him. He just wants to be a champion again.
?For me, being a star isn?t important. What?s more important is that I?m still world champion. Being a ?star,? maybe it?ll just come. There will come a time that I?ll be known in the world,? said Nietes.
