DONNIE Nietes added another milestone to his already legendary career after breaking into The Ring Magazine’s prestigious pound-for-pound list.
“It’s a great accomplishment considering where Donnie came from. A janitor, to a three-division world champion, the longest Filipino world champion and now in the top 10 pound-for-pound best fighters in the world according to the prestigious Ring Magazine. He has a chance to become a four-division world champion on Aug. 18,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said.
The 35-year-old Nietes, a three-division world champion, is now ranked No. 9 among The Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, just ahead of World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight king Oleksander Usyk and behind WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
Nietes, 41-1-4 with 23 knockouts, also joins the likes of pound-for-pound king Gennady Golovkin, Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford, Mikey Garcia, Naoya Inoue, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Errol Spence Jr.
“We are just thankful that ALA Gym and ALA Promotions were able to produce a great fighter and a living legend in Donnie,” said Aldeguer.
Nietes is a former WBO minimumweight and light flyweight champion and an International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight champion.
Nietes is coming off a seventh-round knockout of two-division world titleholder Juan Carlos Reveco last February at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
“What makes Donnie great are his attitude, hard work and humility, which should be an example to all young fighters out there,” said Aldeguer.
Aldeguer believes that Nietes has already solidified his status as an all-time great but he believes that he can do more.
“Yes he did but he can still achieve more,” he said.
Nietes is gunning for his fourth division world crown when he faces fellow Filipino Aston Palicte on Aug. 18, possibly in Cebu City, Bacolod City or Manila. Another possibility is that the fight will be in September either in the US or in the Middle East. (EKA)