Donnie Nietes
Encyclopedia
Donnie Nietes is a Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 and the WBO
World Boxing Organization
The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

 Light Flyweight World Champion. He is also a former WBO
World Boxing Organization
The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

 Minimumweight World Champion. His cousin, Gerson Nietes, is also a boxer.

Originally a utility man who worked at the Antonio Lopez Aldeguer (ALA) boxing gym, Nietes took up boxing after being encouraged by the practitioners whom he socialized with. He turned professional in 2003 and became a national champion one year later.

Nickname

Regarding how Nietes got his nickname "Ahas" which is Tagalog for "snake," Tony Aldeguer states:
"Donnie got his nickname 'ahas' when he was a utility boy at the ALA Gym. One of his daily chores was to clean the snake pit with five big pythons and he was the only man with the guts to do it. He was bitten several times. But once he befriended the snakes, he was never bitten again. One day, a snake laid 11 eggs but only one survived. Donnie took care of that snake and he still does to this day. That's how he got his nickname."

Professional career

Nietes fought a then undefeated Pornsawarn Kratingdaenggym of Thailand for the vacant WBO title on September 30, 2007 in Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel, Cebu City
Cebu City
The City of Cebu is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines, the second most significant metropolitan centre in the Philippines and known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu and was...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Although Nietes floored Kratingdaenggym in the fourth round, the Thai boxer managed to go up to the final bell. The bout ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Nietes.
For three times, Nietes has been pitted against a fighter to whom he was supposed to defend his title, but all plans have been aborted for undisclosed reasons. Because of these, he was at risk of being stripped as the WBO rules state that a champion has to defend his title within a year. After 11 months of inactivity, he finally defended his crown, against Eddy Castro (12-3-1) on August 30, 2008. Nietes (23-1-3, with 14 knockouts) won the fight by technical knockout at 2:49 mark of the second round.

Nietes defended his title for the second time by scoring a unanimous decision victory over Erik Ramirez on February 28, 2009. En route to the win, Nietes sent Ramirez to the canvass four times in separate rounds.

In his third defense, Nietes battled interim champion Manuel Vargas on September 12, 2009. Nietes won the bout by split decision.

On January 23, 2010, Nietes was supposed to defend his WBO title for the fourth time. After a couple of opponents backed out, Mexico's Jesus Silvestre
Jesús Silvestre
José Jesús Silvestre is a Mexican professional boxer in the Minimumweight division. Silvestre is promoted by current WBC Champion, Mexican Saúl Álvarez' company Canelo Promotions.-Professional career:...

 became the last resort. But because Silvestre wasn't ranked in the WBO, Nietes' title wasn't wagered and the bout was only 10 rounds. In the fight, both boxers did well and appeared strong. In the 10th and final round, Nietes was declared winner by TKO when Silvestre stopped to take a drink of water during the fight, a move that is not premitted by the rules.

In his fourth title defense, Nietes fought Mexico's Mario Rodriguez. The fight took place on August 14, 2010, at the Auditorio Luis Estrada Medina in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. The Filipino pugilist won the bout by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112.

Nietes was scheduled to defend his title on March 12, 2011, against mandatory challenger and former champion Raul Garcia
Raúl García (boxer)
Raúl "Rayito" García, born Raúl García Hirales, is a professional boxer from La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, and the former IBF minimumweight world champion. He has a record of 29 wins , 1 loss, and 1 draw...

 (29-1-0). However, less than two weeks prior to the fight, Nietes announced that he would be vacating his world title and moving up in weight. 0n April 9, 2011, Nietes faced Armando Vazquez (18-5-0) and defeated him via first round knock out.

External links



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