Respect for Nietes

Donnie Nietes. Do you know him? Have you ever heard of him?

If a brand awareness study were conducted on boxing and Donnie Nietes, Nietes would most likely get a low awareness score that will be directly proportional to a low popularity rating. Little do sports fans know that aside from Manny Pacquiao, Gerry Peñalosa and Nonito Donaire, the country has another world champion in Donnie Nietes. Did you even know that?

He fights in the shadows of his more popular stablemates who go by the names of The Dream (Z Gorres), Boom Boom (Bautista) and Bazooka (Banal). His own nickname doesn’t even ring a bell to many. The irony of it all is that while Z, Boom Boom and AJ are more popular, they still don’t have a world championship belt. So why is Donnie in such a bind?

For starters, it’s all about being light. Donnie happens to fight in the 105 pound division. When you’re that light, you’ll obviously go unnoticed since you’re either too small or too short. Talk about discrimination against the little guys. It isn’t his fault that boxers who weigh 105 pounds hardly get noticed in the boxing world. After all, they’re so small and light that they can’t be seen in the radar of fans, promoters and Vegas bookies. The only exception would be the case of the great Ricardo “El Finito” Lopez who was one in a million; probably the only boxer to retire undefeated after campaigning in the 105 (minimumweight) and 108 pound (light flyweight) divisions.

We all know how the attention of the boxing world is focused on the 140-pounders with Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton as the lead stars as they prepare for their May 2 showdown. Juan Manuel Marquez and the other contenders lining up for Pacquiao in the 135-pound division are also willing to move up in weight just to get a chance for a possible big money encounter with the Pacman. Oscar De la Hoya, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto are also up there among the boxers in the heavier divisions. The more popular among boxers in the lighter divisions are 122-pound champions Israel Vasquez, Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez and Rafael Marquez. Going further down the weighing scale, once can find super flyweight stars Vic Darchinyan, Christian Mijares and Jorge Arce (115-pounders).

And where does that put the 105-pounders? If this were one big boxing card, the minimumweights could be compared to curtain-raisers fighting in four-round fights. The super lightweights like Pacquiao would be in the main event.

The other factor behind Donnie’s being relatively unknown is that because the local TV networks that go into sports programming have trained their cameras to other more popular boxers. It’s just peculiar that these boxers are well known among sports fans and want to see their idols on TV. In return, networks will cover and broadcast the fights of the more popular boxers, regardless of whether or not they are world champions.

When Donnie Nietes went to Mexico and defeat Erik Ramirez in the challenger’s backyard, it was a case of Donnie wanting to gain more respect. Will the fight make him more popular? We can’t really tell. No network was interested in the satellite feed that would have beamed the fight to the Philippines out of fear that TV ratings for a Nietes fight wouldn’t be attractive to fans and therefore sponsors.

It’s really both a mystery and a pity for Nietes. What does he have to do to gain the respect of the boxing public? To those who have followed his career, we can all say that he has done enough to break into the spotlight right beside his ALA stablemates. Going to Mexico for high profile fights is now a must despite fears of a hometown decision. Donnie just has to go out and win convincingly over any Mexican foe thrown at him.

In the end, Donnie’s real worth as a world champion is in the hands of boxing fans who dictate who and what they want to see on TV and read about in the news. Sad, but true.

Donnie Nietes. The WBO minimumweight champion of the world. Get to know him now.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Neil Faicol, the fighting pride of Miag-ao, Iloilo . >>> You can reach me at [email protected]. -  THE FREEMAN