DONNIE Nietes thought he had his fourth division title in the bag after dominating Aston “Mighty” Palicte for 12 rounds in their WBO super flyweight title bout at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Too bad two of the judges thought otherwise.
In one of the most bizaare decisions recently, the bout was declared a draw after one judge had Nietes winning convincingly, 118-110, while the other had it relatively close for Palicte, 116-112. The other judge saw it way differently and called it a 114-114 draw.
“We are very disappointed because it was obvious that Donnie won. There was no clear hit from Palicte because Donnie blocked them all. Donnie had the clearer punches,” Edito Villamor, ALA gym head trainer, told SunStar Superbalita in Cebuano.
“In the later rounds, from 10 to 12, it was obvious that Palicte wasn’t fighting anymore. Donnie had it,” said Villamor.
Online stats had Nietes landing 194 power punches to Palicte’s 74.
Nietes, 36, also expressed his disappointment with the result.
“I don’t know what the judges did. We can’t do anything about the decision, the same thing has happened to boxers even more famous than me,” said Nietes, who hasn’t lost in 14 years.
The longest-reigning Filipino world champion said he is prepared to fight Palicte again.
“Even before they announced the result, I expected that I would win but they called it a draw. I can’t do anything about it, I will just have to expect it however, I am open to a rematch,” said Nietes, who has been a world champion for 11 years.
Nietes said he will leave everything to his handler, ALA Promotions, whether they’d go for a rematch or look for another fight.
The draw meant Nietes, a three-division world champion, failed to join the elite group of Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire as the only Filipinos to win a world title in at least four divisions.
Nietes dropped to 41-1-5 with 23KOs, while Palicte is now 24-2-1, with 20KOs. (ESL of Superbalita)