Nietes-Fuentes match a draw; Pinoys dominate undercards
-A A +ASunday, March 3, 2013
CEBU CITY -- Donnie “Ahas” Nietes of ALA Boxing Gym retained his WBO light flyweight belt after the judges called a majority draw in their see-saw match with Mexican WBO minimumweight champion Moises "Moi" Fuentes on Saturday night.
Pinoy Pride XVIII, dubbed as “World Champion Versus World Champion,” was held at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu Hotel and Casino in Lahug, this city.
In the main event, Nietes and Fuentes poured everything in their arsenal in a hard-fought battle until the end of the match.
Judges Adalaide Byrd and Patrick Russell from the United States scored its 114-114 apiece for both champions, while Danrex Joseph V. Tapdasan from the Philippines had it 115-113 for Nietes, which resulted in a majority draw with Nietes retaining his belt.
Nietes started solid in the first four to five rounds stunning the Mexican champion Fuentes who had the height and reach advantage. The 30-year-old defending champion from the Philippines unleashed a barrage of vicious overhead rights that rocked Fuentes.
Although slower, Fuentes, on the other hand, landed good crisp body shots against Nietes.
Round six was a different story for the Filipino when he accidentally got a cut on his right eyebrow via accidental clash of heads while engaging in a close quarter slugfest with Fuentes. Nietes also sustained a cut on his other eyebrow, further aggravating the situation.
A bleeding Nietes became less aggressive, compared to the previous rounds, and kept evading Fuentes in Round 7 and 8. Fuentes continued to cut the distance and take advantage of Nietes’ predicament. Pinoy fans grew restless with the Mexican having more pop in his punches. This continued in the 9th and 10th rounds.
Nietes continued to hit good headshots against Fuentes’ but the Mexican was unfazed and kept stalking Nietes and going for the offense. Nietes’ shots seemed to lose sting but he was able to get the game going.
The last two rounds proved to be a good opportunity for Nietes to get back in his rhythm. Nietes, albeit evading the more aggressive Fuentes, still managed to throw in good shots to the head. The crowd cheered “Donnie, Donnie!!”
Most spectators were convinced that the draw was a fair decision. Nietes was dominant during the early rounds, while the Fuentes ruled the middle rounds. Fans were eager to see a rematch of the Nietes-Fuentes fight.
Also present during the match was Mexican Boxing Legend and three-division World Champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who supported his compatriot Moises Fuentes. Barrera earlier advised Manny Pacquiao to stop pursuing a fifth match with Manuel Marquez.
Meanwhile, the Filipinos dominated the undercard fights with Jimrex “The Executioner” Jaca scoring a 10th round Technical Knockout (TKO) victory against Thai Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit in their light welterweight fight.
WBO Asia-Pacific Super Bantamweight title holder Genesis "Asukal" Servania also won via TKO against Indonesian fighter Angk "Time Bomb" Angkotta.
Mark Bernaldez also won via TKO against Rolando Omela. Ralph Lulu dominated Alvin Makiling via unanimous decision.
Juren Labordo stopped Marlou Talili in the second round while Rey Morales won against Abel Gayhon via unanimous decision. (Sunnex with wire reports)
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