So the fight between Donnie Nietes and Alston Palicte for the vacant World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight (115 pounds) over the weekend was judged a split draw, although Nietes clearly won.
The bigger and younger Palicte (24-2-1 with 20 KOs) faded in the latter rounds as the veteran Nietes (41-1-5 with 23 KOs) found his range and was even capable of stopping his opponent in the last three rounds. However, Nietes obviously showed mercy toward Palicte allowing him to finish the fight standing.
I won?t go into the details on the scoring and punch stats, but Nietes showed more class and skills, and better stamina than Palicte, who must work hard on his punching power and skills if he wants to become a world champion.
Since the Nietes-Palicte bout was mandated by the WBO, leaving no choice for the two compatriots to slug it out, a rematch may be in the offing soon. If that happens, Nietes may have to show no mercy toward Palicte and stop him so the judges won?t have the chance to mess up the result.
But I hate to see a Nietes-Palicte rematch because unless Palicte?s camp addresses their fighter?s issues on punching power, stamina and defense, ?Ahas? will end up administering his deadly venom with ease against his younger opponent.
So are we going to see a Filipino finally stopping or knocking out a compatriot in a world title fight?
If I were Palicte?s manager, I would rather have my fighter climb up in weight than risk a stoppage or knock out loss to Nietes, who was denied the chance to win his fourth division title and sustain his 14-year winning streak.
At 5?8?, Palicte can add more weight and fight in the bantamweight (118 pounds) division. There is also no need to rush the young fighter into another world title fight, and his camp needs to address Palicte?s weaknesses that became evident in the title fight against Nietes.
As for Nietes, he showed that he is comfortable at junior bantamweight and has the tools to take on the top fighters in the division. And he is now ranked at No. 9 by The Ring magazine in its pound-for-pound list, making him the third Filipino to land in that list. Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire were once included in that list.
From the magazine?s listing of top junior bantamweights, Nietes may have to deal with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1 with 41 KOs) of Thailand who is the World Boxing Council and The Ring champion for the division, Juan Francisco Estrada (37-3 with 25 KOs) of Mexico, Khalid Yafai (24-0 with 15 KOs) of the UK who holds the World Boxing Association title, and compatriot Jerwin Ancajas (30-1-1 with 20 KOs) who is the International Boxing Federation champion.
So Ancajas, who is also popular among Filipino boxing fans, can also end up facing Nietes in a future world title bout.
And will Nietes show any kind of Mercy toward Ancajas, who figured in the first world title fight featuring two Filipinos in more than 90 years, beating Jonas Sultan last May.
So who will be the first Filipino to knock out or stop a compatriot in a world title bout?
