Talks are ongoing for Donnie Nietes and fellow Negros Occidental native Aston Palicte to figure in a fight for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior-bantamweight crown, Nietes? promoter Michael Aldeguer said Tuesday afternoon.
The pairing was announced by the Puerto Rico-based WBO which ordered Nietes (41-1-4 with 23 KOs) and Palicte (24-2 with 20 KOs) to slug it out to determine a new champion in the 115-lb class.
Aldeguer said he already has a working date for the fight?July 21?with giant TV network ABS-CBN backing him up. Proposed venues for the rare matchup involving two Filipinos are Manila, Cebu and Bacolod City.
Nietes, 35, comes from Murcia while Palicte, 27, is from Bago City, the birthplace of Olympic medalists Roel and Onyok Velasco.
Nietes is coming off a rousing knockout win over Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina while Palicte beat up Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico last December.
Palicte is managed by businessman Jason Soong but is promoted by Roy Jones, whose promotional outfit will also attempt to secure the fight and hold it on US soil.
?I am not ruling out fighting in the US,? said Aldeguer, who will be forced to bring Nietes to America if Palicte?s promoters outbid ALA Boxing and ABS-CBN.
Nietes is the country?s most celebrated champions, having won world titles at minimumweight (105 lbs), light-fly (108) and fly (112). A win against Palicte will make Nietes a four-division world titleholder.
Manny Pacquiao has won eight in as many weight classes while Nonito Donaire has won four.
Aldeguer is thrilled that another all-Filipino world title match is in the pipeline after one of his fighters, super-fly Jonas Sultan is set to battle Jerwin Ancajas on May 26 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
The Ancajas-Sultan showdown will be the first all-Filipino world title encounter in almost 100 years. The only other time two Filipinos fought with a world crown at stake was in 1925 when Pancho Villa faced Clever Sencio at Wallace Field (now Luneta).
