THOUGH it is not among their plans, ALA Promotions may be forced to let Donnie Nietes take on countryman Aston Palicte in his next defense of his World Boxing Organization super flyweight title.
The WBO recently ordered Nietes and Palicte to agree on a fight and gave the two camps only 15 days to come up with an agreement.
Michael Aldeguer said they got the letter from the WBO last Feb. 4 but said they are still open for other options for Nietes, who has expressed interest in getting unification bouts against the super flyweight champions of the other organizations.
“At this point, Donnie wants bigger fights. He wants to fight the big names out there. We’re looking for a unification fight,” said Aldeuger.
Aldeguer said that even if the WBO order is for a mandatory defense, there is a possibility that the WBO will give way if Nietes gets a unification bout.
“We have to look for other options. We don’t want two Filipinos fighting for a world title. We’ll see what we can do; we still have 15 days. We have to start working immediately,” said Aldeguer. “Fighting Palicte is the least of our priorities.”
However, Aldeguer said that if they won’t be able to get a unification bout for Nietes, they will pit their fighter against Palicte.
Nietes and Palicte first fought in September last year, but the bout ended in a controversial split draw.
Nietes is 42-1-5 with 23 KOs, while Palicte is 25-1 with 21 KOs. (ESL of SuperBalita Cebu)