Filipino champion Donnie Nietes tilted his head upwards and gave his tall and rangy Mexican challenger Moises Fuentes a menacing glare yesterday as the two made the weight for their World Boxing Organization light-flyweight title fight set tonight at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
Nietes, standing just 5-2, hardly blinked when he engaged Fuentes in the customary staredown following the official weighin, drawing oohs from the sizable crowd that endured the searing noontime heat at a makeshift stage at the MOA.
?I am ready to go 12 hard rounds if need be,? said Nietes, 31, after coming in at the division limit of 108 lbs, as he consumed two bowls of rice porridge and bananas in one seating.
Fuentes, 28, had given him a rough and tough time the first time they rumbled in March last year in Cebu City as their bout ended on a controversial majority draw.
Fuentes claims that Nietes was lucky to keep the WBO 108-lb crown that night but insists that he will present Nietes? head when he returns to Mexico next week.
?The crown is going to Mexico,? said Fuentes, who also tipped the scales at 108 lbs.
Looking ripped and primed for battle, Fuentes even did several poses for the cameras as if he was vying in a bodybuilding contest.
Nietes? chief benefactor, Cebu boxing big boss Tony Aldeguer, was hardy impressed.
?This is not a bodybuilding contest,? blurted out Aldeguer, whose promotional outfit ALA Boxing is staging the show in partnership with ABS-CBN.
Still, Fuentes believes Nietes? reign is coming to an end and that their second meeting won?t leave any doubt as to who is the better fighter.
?I am a different fighter than the one who fought him last year,? said Fuentes.
Even Marco Antonio Barrera, the Mexican legend who manages the brash challenger, said Nietes? shelf life is about to expire.
But Nietes thinks they?re all mistaken.
?I am not giving this (WBO title) up,? said Nietes.
?Not tomorrow.?
