Nietes captures WBO International super flyweight strap on Easter

DONNIE ‘Ahas’ Nietes hardly showed any ring rust and made a masterful comeback with a unanimous decision win over Colombian foe Pablo Carrillo at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

PERFECT TIMING Donnie ‘Ahas’ Nietes lands a straight to the face of Pablo Carrillo of Colombia during their fight in Dubai on Easter (Philippine time). D4G BOXING PROMOTIONS PHOTO

The former four-division world champion gave Filipino boxing fans something to celebrate on the morning of Easter Sunday after he captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) International super flyweight strap, ending his lengthy 27-month layoff.

Three judges scored the bout all in favor of Nietes by 99-91, 98-92 and 96-95.

Nietes used superior ring control to keep his younger opponent at bay and dictate the 10-round bout en route to his 43rd win in 44 fights. The Murcia, Negros Oriental native has gone undefeated in his last 36 fights with his lone pro defeat dating back to September 2004 with a controversial split decision loss to Indonesian Angky Angkotta.

In his first fight after more than two years, Nietes proved that there’s a lot left in the tank at age 38.

Nietes threw 425 punches and landed 97, while the 34-year-old Carrillo landed 81 punches from 415 thrown, according to CompuBox. The Filipino boxer used jabs and counter-punches to seize control of the fight.

Carrillo tried to throw heavy punches but it was to no avail with Nietes circling away from the right hand of Carrillo.

“I’m happy that he [Nietes] showed a great performance even on a 2-year layoff. He showed great ring control,” said trainer Edmund Villamor in Bisaya who’s with Nietes in Dubai.

It was the first fight of Nietes since he won his fourth world title by defeating Japanese boxing star Kazuto Ioka via split decision for the WBO junior bantamweight belt in December 2018 in Macau.

However, Nietes vacated the throne as he did not want a rematch against fellow Filipino Aston Palicte in 2019. Nietes wanted to get his dream fight of either Juan Francisco Estrada, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

Sport events were put to a standstill in 2020 with coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc globally that left Nietes without a fight. In the same year, Nietes’ promoter ALA Boxing Promotions and ALA Boxing Gym also bid farewell after 35 years of operation largely due to the pandemic.

At the later part in 2020, Nietes signed with MTK Global and D4G Boxing Promotions, and got the chance to return to the ring in a co-main event to the WBO super featherweight match between defending champion Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton.

With the win, Nietes improved to 43-1-5 with 23 KOs, while Carrillo dropped to 25-8-1 with 16 KOs. It also opened an opportunity for Nietes to chase big fights in the 115-pound division.