If there?s one fight that will cement Donnie Nietes? legacy, it may be his coming fight, the Filipino world champion said.
Nietes clashes with fellow Negrense Aston Palicte for the vacant World Boxing Organization super-flyweight title in a bout to be featured on HBO?s ?Superfly 3? series.
A win will line him up together with fellow Filipino boxers, who have won multiple titles in different weight classes.
?This fight represents a lot to me as I will be seeking my fourth world championship in a fourth different weight division. Winning the world title will put me at the level of Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire and will add worldwide recognition to my career,? Nietes said in a recent meet-and-greet with Filipino fans in Los Angeles, as quoted in an article posted on the Boxing Scene website.
Nietes is a 3-time world champion in 3 weight classes. He previously held the WBO and The Ring magazine light flyweight titles and the WBO minimumweight and International Boxing Federation flyweight titles. He is currently ranked the ninth best pound-for-pound boxer by The Ring.
But Palicte is just as determined in his vision to score perhaps the biggest victory of his career.
It will be his first world title fight.
?I am happy to have the opportunity to fight for a world championship on such a big card and to be on HBO,? he said.
Palicte added that having to fight Nietes is nothing personal to him.
?The fact the we are both Filipinos doesn?t matter. We are both here to do a job and no matter what happens we will still be friends after the fight,? said Palicte.
?SuperFly 3,? which will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., will feature the WBC super flyweight elimination bout between Juan Francisco Estrada and Felipe Orucuta in the main event.
