Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and the rest of the Filipino crew at the Pinoy Pride 23 fight on Saturday swept their Latino opponents last Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Save for Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo, who manage to salvage a split draw against his opponent, the Filipinos drew unanimous decisions to lift the spirits of the home crowd, reports Roy Luarca in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Nietes stormed out of the corner at the first round, unleashing flurries of punches to deck Mexican Sammy Gutierrez twice in the first round. The punishment continued for the Mexican, until the third round when referee Celestino Cruz stopped the contest at with two seconds in the clock.
Coming into the fight with an undefeated in 23 fights, Sabillo channeled all the strength he had to earn a split draw against Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago, himself undefeated in 27 fights. In the end the judges had it even between the fighters, and it was enough for Sabillo to retain the WBO minimumweight crown.
In the undercards, Filipino fighters Milan Melindo, Jason Pagara and AJ Banal earned unanimous decision wins over their opponents Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico, Vladimir Baez of the Dominican Republic and Lucian Gonzales of Puerto Rico, respectively.
Photo screen grab from ABS-CBN News Channel shows Nietes (elft) and Gutierrez (right).
