Pinoy Nietes retains WBO title

Pasay City— Relying on his veteran smarts and ring-savvy, Donnie “Ahas” Nietes successfully retained his WBO world flyweight crown with a unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Felipe Salguero in the featured fight of the Pinoy Pride 14: Night of Champions at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila here.

Though there was no knockdown scored, Nietes still impressed ALA Promotions top honcho Michael Aldeguer, who is now looking for bigger fights for the two world division champion.

“That was vintage Donnie. No knockdown but that’s Donnie for you. He is very tactical and doesn’t rush things,” said Aldeguer, CEO/president of ALA Promotions.

“He was very impressive. It was total domination. People will look for a knockout but you have to appreciate how he dominated the fight,” added Aldeguer.

It was Nietes’ first defense of his crown, which he won against Ramon Hirales Garcia last October in Bacolod City. Nietes also needed 12 rounds to ice that victory.

Against Salguero, Nietes, who stretched his winning streak to 19,  used solid defense and accurate punches to slow down his opponent.

Nietes had Salguero wobbling several times in the early rounds but the Mexican boxer refused to go down.

Nietes was pushed to the limit but the Bacolod City fighter had enough gas to finish the fight.

Judge Salven Lagumbay scored the bout 115-113, while the other two judges both had it 116-112.

Aldeguer said the win showed Nietes that he is ready for bigger fights.

“We are looking at bigger names for Nietes,” said Aldeguer.

Aldeguer said one of the plans is to pit Nietes in a unification fight against  Roman Gonzales, the defending WBA light flyweight champion.

Nietes’ successful title defense capped a strong showing by three ALA Gym stalwarts with Genesis Servania and Milan Melindo scoring impressive wins in the main supporting bouts.

Servania, who remained unbeaten in 18 fights with six knockouts, while Melindo needed just one round to dispose of Jesus Gelez.

“Servania showed a lot of maturity. Being a young fighter, Servania was not supposed to face a veteran opponent like Garcia but he showed he’s already up there,” said Aldeguer.

“He showed what he’s made of,” said Aldeguer of Melindo, who remained unbeaten in 27 fights capped off with 11 knockouts.