DONNIE Nietes cemented his legacy as one of the greatest Filipino fighters in history after winning his third division world title last Saturday night.
The 34-year-old Nietes walked away with a unanimous decision win over tough Thai Komgrich Nantapech to claim the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight belt in the main event of Pinoy Pride 40 – Domination at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino, in a fight that was harder than expected.
?Of course I?m very happy to belong with the likes of Manny Pacquiao and (Nonito) Donaire as the only three Filipinos to have ever done that. It has given me added inspiration to train harder and fight harder in the future,? said Nietes, who joins Pacquiao and Donaire Jr. as the only Filipino fighters to win world titles in three divisions or more.
Filipino judge Gregorio Ortega and Japanese judge Katsuhiko Nakamura had identical scores of 117-111, while Thai judge Somsak Sirianant saw it closer with a score of 115-113.
Nietes came out strong early and continued to land crisp and accurate left jabs on Nantapech. He moved well and also landed the occasional right straight, left hook and right uppercut.
But even with his best punches, the 27-year-old Nantapech would just shrug it off and smile.
After the fifth round, Nantapetch, who was tough as nails, started to hit his target.
?It was harder than expected. I thought I could knock him out but after five rounds I really felt that it was hard to knock him out. He was really tough. Even with my perfectly timed punches, he would not go down,? said Nietes, who had huge swelling in both of his eyes and a possibly broken hand after the fight.
Winning on points
?So far in the first six rounds I felt I did really well but after that I felt that I wasn?t already that convincing because I felt tired. He was always in front of me and even though I gave him some of my best punches, he would not go down. He was very tough. That?s why coach Edmund advised me not to go for the knockout but win the fight on points.?
Nietes started to move around in the later rounds, while Nantapech aggressively moved forward and tried to catch him with that knockout punch but to no avail. Nietes was slick and kept Nantapech at bay with his jab or moved out of danger with his quick lateral movements.
Nietes took control of the championship rounds with his pinpoint accuracy and with the crowd behind him chanting his name.
?It was vintage Donnie but you got to give the Thai credit because he fought a hell of a fight, he came in top shape. Donnie has veteran smarts but he was also in a tough fight,? said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
Nietes improved to 40-1-4 with 22 knockouts, while Nantapech dropped to 22-4 with 15 knockouts.
Fast-rising Mark Magsayo (16-0, 12 KOs) made quick work of Tanzanian Issa Nampepeche (24-8, 11 KOs), knocking him out in the opening round.
The 21-year-old Magsayo, rated sixth in the WBO, dropped Nampepeche with a counter left. Nampepeche survived the count but Magsayo pounced on him and sent him down with three straight left hooks.
Jeo Santisima (13-2, 11 KOs) scored a unanimous decision win over Indonesian veteran Master Suro (11-9, 2 KOs) in one of the main featured fights.
All three judges scored the bout with identical scores of 100-89.
