Donnie Nietes

Donnie Nietes
Statistics
Real name	Donnie Nietes
Nickname(s)	Ahas (Snake)
Rated at	Minimumweight
Height	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Nationality	Filipino
Born	May 13, 1982 (1982-05-13) (age 29) Bacolod City, Philippines
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	33
Wins	29
Wins by KO	16
Losses	1
Draws	3

Donnie Nietes is a Filipino professional boxer and the WBO Light Flyweight World Champion. He is also a former WBO Minimumweight World Champion. His cousin, Gerson Nietes, is also a boxer.^[1]

Originally a utility man who worked at the Antonio Lopez Aldeguer (ALA) boxing gym, Nietes took up boxing after being encouraged by the practitioners whom he socialized with. He turned professional in 2003 and became a national champion one year later.^[2]

Nickname

Regarding how Nietes got his nickname "Ahas" which is Tagalog for "snake," Tony Aldeguer states:

"Donnie got his nickname 'ahas' when he was a utility boy at the ALA Gym. One of his daily chores was to clean the snake pit with five big pythons and he was the only man with the guts to do it. He was bitten several times. But once he befriended the snakes, he was never bitten again. One day, a snake laid 11 eggs but only one survived. Donnie took care of that snake and he still does to this day. That's how he got his nickname."^[3]

Professional career

Nietes fought a then undefeated Pornsawarn Kratingdaenggym of Thailand for the vacant WBO title on September 30, 2007 in Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel, Cebu City, Philippines. Although Nietes floored Kratingdaenggym in the fourth round, the Thai boxer managed to go up to the final bell. The bout ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Nietes.

For three times, Nietes has been pitted against a fighter to whom he was supposed to defend his title, but all plans have been aborted for undisclosed reasons. Because of these, he was at risk of being stripped as the WBO rules state that a champion has to defend his title within a year.^[4] After 11 months of inactivity, he finally defended his crown, against Eddy Castro (12-3-1) on August 30, 2008. Nietes (23-1-3, with 14 knockouts) won the fight by technical knockout at 2:49 mark of the second round.^[5][6]

Nietes defended his title for the second time by scoring a unanimous decision victory over Erik Ramirez on February 28, 2009. En route to the win, Nietes sent Ramirez to the canvass four times in separate rounds.

In his third defense, Nietes battled interim champion Manuel Vargas on September 12, 2009. Nietes won the bout by split decision.

On January 23, 2010, Nietes was supposed to defend his WBO title for the fourth time. After a couple of opponents backed out, Mexico's Jesus Silvestre became the last resort. But because Silvestre wasn't ranked in the WBO, Nietes' title wasn't wagered and the bout was only 10 rounds. In the fight, both boxers did well and appeared strong. In the 10th and final round, Nietes was declared winner by TKO when Silvestre stopped to take a drink of water during the fight, a move that is not premitted by the rules.

In his fourth title defense, Nietes fought Mexico's Mario Rodriguez. The fight took place on August 14, 2010, at the Auditorio Luis Estrada Medina in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. The Filipino pugilist won the bout by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112.^[7]

Nietes was scheduled to defend his title on March 12, 2011, against mandatory challenger and former champion Raul Garcia (29-1-0). However, less than two weeks prior to the fight, Nietes announced that he would be vacating his world title and moving up in weight.^[8] 0n April 9, 2011, Nietes faced Armando Vazquez (18-5-0) and defeated him via first round knock out.^[9]

See also

• List of WBO world champions
• List of current world boxing champions

References

1. ^ Lito A. Tacujan; Gerry Carpio (October 28, 2008). "Tacuyan, Nietes hold World Youth foes". Guadalajara, Mexico: The Philippine Star. p. 18. 
2. ^ Rod Mijares (July 7, 2009). "NIETES FROM A UTILITY MAN TO A WORLD CHAMPION". Fil-Am Boxers and Notables.com. http://www.fil-amboxers.com/. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
3. ^ Joaquin Henson (January 4, 2009). "'Ahas' out to gain recognition". The Philippine Star. p. 20. 
4. ^ "Nietes: Just in time to prove dominion". Philboxing.com. http://philboxing.com/news/story-18318.html. Retrieved 2008-08-10. 
5. ^ philboxing.com, 'Boom-Boom', Niestes stop foes!
6. ^ abs-cbnnews.com, Boom Boom Bautista KOs Mexican challenger in 2nd round
7. ^ Nathanielsz, Ronnie (August 15, 2010). "Donnie Nietes Decisions Mario Rodriguez, Retains Title". BoxingScene.com. http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=30080. Retrieved August 15, 2010. 
8. ^ http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2011/02/28/nietes-chases-another-dream-142327
9. ^ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/04/09/11/nietes-smashes-mexican-foe-1-round

External links

• Professional boxing record for Donnie Nietes from BoxRec
• PhilBoxing.com - Nietes Wins! Adds a 4th World Title for the Philippines

Vacant Title last held by Iván Calderón	WBO Minimumweight Champion September 30, 2007 - March 2011	Vacant Title next held by Raúl García
Preceded by Ramón García Hirales	WBO Light Flyweight Champion October 8, 2011 - Present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Nietes, Donnie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 13, 1982
Place of birth	Bacolod City, Philippines
Date of death
Place of death