CEBU CITY: Former four-division world champion Donnie Nietes is set to begin a new chapter in his fruitful boxing career.
This after the Murcia, Negros Occidental-native said he has committed to a new manager/promoter to handle his upcoming fights after he became a free agent since the closure of the ALA Boxing stable.
The longest Filipino boxing champion Nietes (42-1-5, 23KOs) in an interview with The Manila Times said he was eyeing to make a comeback by December this year or January next year after almost two years of hiatus.
Nietes hasn’t fought since he won over Kazuto Ioka for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight title in December 2018. He vacated the crown in 2019 to pursue potential fights against Srisaket Rungvisai, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada.
He did not get the chance to fight any of those three fighters. He’s hoping it will happen this time with a new team.
“The offer is pretty good. They want to give me a tune-up fight by December or January. After that they will try to negotiate with any of Rungvisai, Chocolatito or Estrada for a possible match,” Nietes said in Cebuano.
The 38-year-old Nietes politely declined to name the new manager/promoter.
“I don’t want to preempt. I just think that we have to wait for [them] to announce. Probably they will announce it this week,” explained Nietes.
Nietes said one of the things he considered before committing with the new promoter is the possibility to be on his dream fight against either Rungvisai, Gonzales or Estrada.
“I’m just excited to return to the ring. I’m just happy that there’s someone that gave me this offer,” said Nietes.
With the coronavirus pandemic still wreaking havoc globally, Nietes keeps his fitness in check through home workouts. He’s also busy with his business selling various market items.
Nietes was the most decorated fighter for ALA Boxing stable before the gym decided to hang up its gloves after 35 years. ALA cited the economic effect of the pandemic and the closure of its long-time broadcast partner ABS-CBN Corp. as the reasons for the abrupt closure.
