This is a rematch that’s worth the wait.
After fighting to to a controversial draw in Cebu last year, Donnie Nietes and Moises Fuentes returns to Manila on May 10 via ALA Boxing’s Pinoy Pride XXV at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Nietes (32-2-4) has flown under the radar of most Filipino fight fans despite having been a world champion since 2007. He currently holds the WBO Light Flyweight Title which Fuentes travelled to the Philippines to challenge him for last March in a fight which finished in a majority draw.
There was also some bad blood between the camps with Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, who is famous for his two fights with Manny Pacquiao, upsetting the locals with some of his comments about the scoring.
Fuentes (19-0-1) was named the Interim WBO Light Flyweight Champion after stopping Luis de la Rosa in the first round last September but that is a fairly meaningless trinket, the real belt belongs to Nietes and the Mexican will be need to dethrone him in order to become a fully fledged 108 lbs world champion.
Nietes is known as “The Snake” after he befriended a python which was part of the menagerie of animals at the ALA Gym in Cebu and normally walks into the ring with the friendly serpent draped around his shoulders.
Two of his ALA Gym team mates will also see action with Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista returning to action after a brief retirement. He made his name fighting on the card of Oscar De La Hoya’s megafight with Floyd Mayweather in 2007 and is a popular figure in the Philippines.
After an underwhelming split decision loss to Jose Ramirez last April he will be looking to show that his boxing race is not run and improve on his 34-3 record when he fights at super featherweight for the first time against Mexican Sergio Villanueva (26-3-2).
The Pinoy Pride series has been highly successful with ABS-CBN signing on to screen footage of the fights for an entire decade. It has also served as a vehicle for the ALA managed boxers to gain experience and move into contention for title shots with Milan Melindo one man who has benefitted from this.
Melindo (30-1) secured a title shot on the back of a series of impressive wins fighting at Pinoy Pride but came up short when he challenged Juan Francisco Estrada for two world titles at a Top Rank show in Macau last year.
After suffering the first defeat of his boxing career Melindo is looking to work his way back into contention for another title shot and can take a big step in the right direction by beating Mexico’s Martin Tecuapetla (11-5-2) on May 10th.
Pinoy Pride XXV The Rematch for Glory: Nietes vs Fuentes 2 is on May 10, 6pm, at Mall of Asia Arena. PHP400, PHP600, PHP800, PHP1500, PHP2000, PHP3000, PHP3500, PHP4000, PHP5000 available at SM Tickets.
