Donnie dominates

Donnie Nietes isn’t as popular as Manny Pacquiao or Nonito Donaire, is he? And he only happens to be the country’s only other world boxing champion aside from the Pacman and Edrin Dapudong (IBO). Poor Donnie. After all he has done for Philippine boxing, he doesn’t seem to be getting any credit worthy of a world champ whose reign is second only to the great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. Surprised? It looks like only the pure boxing fans are aware of Donnie’s exploits and achievements. And I sure hope this changed after Donnie’s spectacular win over mandatory challenger Moises Fuentes of Mexico, a former world champion at the 105-pound division.

Donnie was at his best when he slowly but surely outboxed and outsmarted Fuentes over nine rounds, setting up his foe for a dominant ninth round where Fuentes kissed the canvass three times before Robert Byrd decided to call the fight off.

 â€œWas that Donnie?” some might ask. And the answer is a big YES! As one of the most underrated and unknown among boxing world champions, Donnie proved once again that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with the sport’s best today. To borrow a term from fellow ALA boxer Milan Melindo, Donnie was methodical and accurate, and was like a great matador who tamed a bull called Moi. Fuentes said that he would throw more punches and apply pressure all night long. And so he did. Fuentes threw out the reverse gear and went full throttle forward, throwing punches in bunches.

When he did this, I had my own fears that Donnie might not be able to withstand the pressure and eventually cave in. Was this going to be like the first fight? Another draw due to Donnie’s cleaner punches?

But Donnie didn’t disappoint. One clear edge he had was defense. Amidst the charging bull, Donnie was deft in ducking, bobbing and weaving, making Fuentes miss or land punches without much of an impact.

The shorter Donnie never gave Fuentes the space to land his most effective blows. This defense became the starting point and transition for an offense that Moi had probably never expected. Donnie found his own range up close where he countered with an excellent combination of hooks and uppercuts to the body, short jabs to both the face and “bodega” of Fuentes, and the uppercuts and whopping overhand rights that eventually took Fuentes out.

He did all these while always being in motion: ducking, weaving, circling around, going in and out, putting his head on Fuentes’s chest, and clinching whenever necessary. While Fuentes might have appeared to have been the busier fighter early in the fight, Donnie was patient and calculated as he invested well with body punches that eventually wore down Fuentes and those effective/short punches to the head.

Fuentes would hit a lot of Donnie’s arms, elbows and gloves and throwing punches made him look busier. However, Donnie was the more effective boxer with cleaner punches. Then came the seventh to ninth rounds. This is when Donnie shifted into high gear and completely dominated.

A classic scene was when Donnie landed a tremendous right hook to Moi’s body and for the first time in the fight, Moi actually stopped in his tracks. He didn’t call for his reverse gear yet, but he was clearly stopped like a train that was placed on emergency brakes. Sensing danger, Donnie switched the momentum and tempo of the bout and the rest is history. It was all a matter of time before Fuentes would fall. He was staggered in the eighth round but the Mexican warrior in him hung tough. The ninth was all Donnie and his overhand right hand set up by beautiful jabs to the head and blows to the body that Fuentes could no longer block or run away from. And yet Fuentes managed to get up from the first two knockdowns.

Talk about a tough hombre! But it was all over at the 2:56 mark when Byrd rightfully stopped the fight. At this stage, the entire MOA Arena was up on its feet, praying that it would end as the seconds ticked away on the big screen.

It was unanimous on press row that this was Donnie’s best fight ever that should wipe out any doubts about his legacy. Sure, people may not know him, but he has done his part in the Philippine boxing history.

Did you say history? Nietes is now recognized by the Ring Magazine as its light flyweight champion of the world. He is also seven months away from eclipsing Elorde’s record for the having the longest reign as a world champion. Take a bow Donnie. You have done great things for Philippine boxing and have already cemented your place in history. But keep on punching. You’re on the verge of even greater things up ahead.

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Time-out:  Happy birthday to Lito Amante. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].