DONNIE “Ahas” Nietes retained his WBO Minimumweight Belt by dominating tough warrior Mario Rodriguez in his own hometown in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico via unanimous decision.
The judges scored the fight 119-110, 118-110, and 116-112 all in favor of the Filipino defending champ from Murcia, Negros Occidental.
Donnie convincingly dominated Rodriguez in the first eight rounds utilizing his ring generalship and accuracy. Nietes inflicted a clean shot, which had the Mexican’s nose bloodied in the eighth round.
However, Rodriguez went for the broke and came out aggressive in the later round. Donnie suffered a cut on his right eyebrow in the tenth round, which slowed him down. The hometown fighter threw all his wild shots and combinations in the last rounds but Nietes managed to avoid getting hurt and play to the end.
All efforts came short for Rodriguez to win the fight against the superior boxer in Nietes. In the end, all judges were convinced on the total domination of the Filipino Warrior.
The victory was clear and even the Mexican fans acknowledged the loss of their boxer. After the announcement of the winner, Rodriguez graciously raised the hand of his victorious opponent as a gesture of salutation and respect and as a sign of true sportsmanship.
With the win, Nietes's record improved to 27-1-3 with 15 knockouts while Rodriguez dropped to 10-6-3 with 7 knockouts.
In the post fight interview, Nietes expressed his determination to keep defending his crown and cement his place along the pedestal of longest reigning Filipino Boxing Legend Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, who reigned as champion for more than seven years.
Nietes also said he wishes to defend his belt in his hometown Bacolod City in his next fight.(Chito Y. Katangkatang)