Brilliant Nietes dismantles Garcia to keep WBO crown

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes promised to deliver an impressive win before his hometown fans.

He did more than that.

Drawing extra strength from his provincemates, Nietes (38-1-4, 22KOs) dropped his Mexican challenger  Raul 'Rayito' Garcia (36-4-1, 22KOs) twice in round three on the way to retain his WBO light flyweight title via technical knockout before the start of the sixth round.

The 6,000-plus crowd at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum here roared into frenzied celebration after their ring hero put on a spectacular show of fistic skills to cap what had been a highly successful 'Pinoy Pride 36:A Legend in the Making' fightcard.

"Plano ko talaga na i-knockout siya kasi gusto ko talaga makakuha nang impressive win," said Nietes, moments after extending his reign as the longest Filipino world boxing champion. 

The 33-year-old Nietes first downed Garcia with a powerful left, followed by a body shot midway in the third period.

The Mexican quickly got up only to be floored again by a similar vicious combination of the Pinoy champ.

Nietes further punished Garcia with energy-sapping body punches and sharp jabs in the next two rounds that spelled the end of the battered Mexican visitor.  

Feeling that he can no longer withstand the beating he got from Nietes, Garcia threw in the towel before the start of round six.

"Ini-expect ko talaga na tumbahin siya kasi pinag-aralan namin kung paano siya papasukin. Sa first round pa lamang alam ko na ma-knockout ko siya," said Nietes, whose performance was way better when he decisioned Raul's twin brother Ramon Garcia to snare the WBO crown at the same arena five years ago.

With the resounding win, Nietes formally sealed a grand showdown with Mexican toughie Moises Fuentes headlining the second Pinoy Pride event in the United States on September 24 at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California.

"Nietes is like wine. He's better now than he was years ago. He's on a different level now. It's time for him to fight the big names out there," said ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael P. Aldeguer.

In the main supporting bout,  'King' Arthur Villanueva (29-1, 15KOs) recovered from a second round knockdown to defend his WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight crown with a bizzare fourth round stoppage of  Juan 'El Penita'  Jimenez (22-10, 15KOs).

The Mexican drew first blood, decking Villanueva with a series of head shots in round two. Villanueva, however, came out charging in round three, decking Jimenez with a solid right straight to the jaw to the delight of the sizable crowd.

The anticlimactic end of the bout came in round four when the Mexican suddenly sprawled on the canvas wallowing in pain after an accidental clash of heads, as shown in the slo-mo replay.

Referee Dan Nietes, however, perceived it as a legitimate hit that sent Jimenez motionless for several minutes and eventually counted out the Mexican in 21 seconds of round four.

On the other hand, Milan 'El Metodico' Melindo (34-2, 33KOs) won by technical unanimous decision over a very game Mexican Maximino 'Max' Flores (19-3, 13KOs).

Referee Ver Abainza waved off the match in 56 seconds of round seven as Melindo could no longer continue  with a gaping gash over his left eye caused by an accidental headbutt.

Melindo, who was overweight by nearly five pounds going into the fight, prevailed in all three judges' scorecards (69-64, 68-65, 67-66), hence, the technical verdict.

In the other featured bout, flyweight contender Kevin Jake 'KJ' Cataraja knocked out Thai Chatchai Or Benjamas cold in round four to stay perfect at 4-0 against foreign foes.

Cataraja dropped Chatchai with a solid right in round two, then finished off his hapless Thai foe with a punishing left-right combo to the head  with just 14 seconds gone by in the fourth round.

Earlier,  Jonas 'Zorro' Sultan of  Zamboanga del Norte kept his Philippine super flyweight belt with a one-punch knockout of Rommel Oliveros of Paranaque City.

While sizing up each other in the first four rounds, Sultan suddenly let loose a crushing counter right that sent  Oliveros down on both knees for good at 2:13 of round five.

In the other results, Raul Yu of Butuan City stopped Bacolod's hometown bet Robert Ates at 43 seconds of round two, Kenneth Gentallan of Tagbilaran City won by unanimous decision over Lenmar Precillas of Mandaue City, while Reymund Rama prevailed by split verdict over Gerard Suico in duel of fellow Mandauehanons. (FREEMAN)