Donnie Nietes: A Thrilling Champ

Donnie Nietes lands vicious overhand right and snaps Parra’s head back. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Written and photographed

By Jude Bautista

Last November Donnie ‘Ahas’ Nietes knocked out Carlos Velarde in the 7^th round. With the win he surpassed the most legendary Filipino boxer of all time Gabriel Flash Ellorde as the longest reigning Filipino champ with 35 wins, 7 consecutive successful title defenses in 7 years.

Donnie Nietes raises his hand in victory after 10th rd TKO victory over Gilberto Parra. He successfully defends his WBO/IBF World Jr Flyweight Belt for the 7th time. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Nonito Donaire Jr raises his hand in victory and earns vacant NABF Super Bantamweight Belt. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

PINOY Pride 30 D-Dayheld at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015 yielded memorable victories for the Philippines. Nonito Donaire had a stunning 2^nd rd TKO victory over William Prado of Brazil. Prince Albert Pagara Retained his IBF Inter-Continental Super bantamweight title against Rodolfo Hernandez via 5^th round TKO. Both Nietes and Donaire were elevated to the Flash Ellorde Hall of Fame last March 25.

People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao is joined by Nonito Donaire Jr. & Donnie Nietes in the Ellorde Hall of Fame. Rexona Men was one of the many sponsors of PINOY PRIDE 30 D-DAY. Their endorser PBA star Marc Pingris was ringside catching all the action. He can also be seen in ads for other Unilever brands such as Master Facial Wash and was part of Master Game Face Challenge along with Chris Tiu.

Prince Albert Pagara successfully defends his IBF Intercontinental Jr Featherweight Belt. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Nietes became Boxer of the Year as WBO minimum weight champion in 2008, WBO Straw weight titlist in 2009 and WBO and IBF light flyweight champion from 2010 to 2014.

Angeline Quinto sang LUPANG HINIRANG perfectly. She was certainly younger and prettier than the Mexican representative who sang MEXICANOS, AL GRITO DE GUERRA. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Phil Star was able to interview Laura Ellorde about their criteria for Nietes’ Hall of Fame status, “The Elorde Hall of Fame is a distinction accorded to Boxer of the Year Awardees for seven straight years. We use seven consecutive years as the yardstick since Bai Elorde was world junior lightweight champion for seven consecutive years from 1960 to 1967.”

The thing is Donnie plans to go way beyond that record and make his own mark in the world of boxing. Nietes plans to extend that record to ten years as WBO World Jr. Flyweight Champion. Pinoy Pride 30 D-Day held at the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum cemented Nietes’ legacy in the hearts of millions of his compatriots.

Gilberto ‘Parrito’ Parra had an impressive 80% KO record. 17 of his 22 fights were KOs. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Gilberto ‘Parrito’ Parra of Sonora Mexico had a record of 19-2. He had a deadly 79% KO with 17. Although odds makers had Nietes ahead, one can never be too sure with the KO power and heart of a Mexican fighter.

from left: Parra clinches to stop the punishment. Nietes bobs & weaves under Parra’s jab, then slips to land the overhand right. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Trainer Edmond Villamor tells Donnie to be more patient. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

From the very first round Donnie Nietes dictated the pace. Donnie’s punches weren’t necessarily rapid fire but more accurate and heavy. Parra would only manage to answer once in a while and would feel the impact of Niete’s punches, thus causing him to backpedal. An indication of the power of Nietes and damage it caused was Parra clinching as early as the first round. In round 2, Nietes had clearly tagged Parra but would answer with several hard body shots of his own.

from left: Parra lands body shot, Nietes returns w right cross and Parra tries to run away from barrage of heavy punches. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Donnie Nietes lands brutal combo after combo. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

The third round saw Parra using even more of his footwork although he’d try to answer back he’d only do so with punches one at a time. Nietes’ stronger combos had him winning the round. Parra really started getting hurt in the 4^th and 5^th rounds. Nietes’ quick jab snapped his head back staggering him. By the 5^th Parra was clinching more in an attempt to stop the barrage. You could also see the frustration building on Donnie having to contend with the now frequent clinches.

Parra clinches again after getting staggered. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Parra did come back in round 6 with hard body shots of his own. A deadly right straight and hook visibly shakes Parra in round 7. The inevitable happened in Round 8, a hard right hook by Nietes puts down Parra but got back on his feet. At the end of round 9 Parra’s face was swelling and bleeding from a cut on the right eyebrow. It was no surprise the ringside physician looked at his face and decided to stop the fight. Officially it was 10^th round TKO since Parra completed the 9^th but was stopped before the start of the 10^th.

8th round top left: Nietes lands right cross (top right:) Parra drops like a sack of potatoes. Bottom left: Ref Jack Reiss gives him ten count (Bottom right:) Reiss makes sure Parra can go on fighting. Physician stops the fight after 9th round to prevent further damage to Parra. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

The strategy according to Nietes was to be more patient and be more tactical, “Sa lahat salamat sa suporta sa ALA promotion. First round pa lang sinabi ko kaya ko to. Pasensya talaga kelangan di dapat masyado i-pressure. Pinaplano talaga na wag biglain, dahan dahan lang.” (Thank you to ALA promotions right from the first round I knew I could win. I just need to be more patient not to pressure him too much and time my punches well.)

Dyan Castillejo interviews Donnie Nietes after 10th rd TKO victory over Gilberto Parra. He successfully defends his WBO/IBF World Jr Flyweight Belt for the 7th time. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Trainer Edmond Villamor tells Donnie to time the overhead right perfectly. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

When asked when he first hurt Parra Nietes said, “5 rounds siguro pwede ko na siyang tumbahin. Pinagalitan ako ni coach, relax ka muna hintayin mo yung timing. Pasensyoso muna nung 8-9 rounds tinamaan ko siya.” (5^th round I thought I could put him down. My coach told me to relax and wait. By the 8^th & 9^th rounds I got him).

from left: Nietes’ jab penetrates defense, Parra comes back w body shot. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Parra tries to fight back w left jab; PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Nietes also believes that Parra was a good fighter, “Oo magaling magaling, na hirapan lang ng konti. Na tamaan ko siya ng malakas”. (He’s skilled, it was hard at first. then I got him with a haymaker) The 2 most important punches that finished Parra according to him was the straight and overhand right.

from left: Nietes’ lands vicious body shot and (right) overhand right follows left hook. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Donnie Nietes lands brutal combo after combo. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Nietes’ Manager & ALA Promotion Pres. & CEO Michael Aldeguer also explained the upcoming fights, “Right now he has a scheduled mandatory fight July 4 with Francisco Rodriguez. He’s gotta go through that first. Its gonna be a tough fight. He’s a former world champion, went up in weight. After that we have to sit down with him. He’s been talking about Juan Estrada. We started to discuss with Zanfer Promotions. That’s the direction we want to go for Donnie. But he’s (Juan Estrada) overweight he has to go 4 pounds of his weight down. We need to study the team and see what’s best for Donnie. Right now there are big names out there. Ramon Gonzales is one of them. Right now he has a tough fight ahead that’s Francisco Rodriguez on July 4^th. We’ll go from there.”

from left: Prince Albert Pagara (IBF Intercontinental Jr Featherweight Champ),
& ALA Promotions Pres. & CEO Michael Aldeguer. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Fighting at SMART Araneta and co headlining with Donaire was special, “Siyempre masaya dito ginaganap at kasama ko si Nonito so talagang masayang masaya ang pakiramdam.”

from right: Prince Albert Pagara (IBF Intercontinental Jr Featherweight Champ), Donnie Nietes (WBO World Jr Flyweight Champ), Nonito Donaire Jr (NABF Super Bantamweight Champ) and Coach/trainer Nonito Donaire Sr. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

Training for Nietes is always more brutal than the actual fight, “Grabe paghihirap ng training. So pagdating sa laban di na kami masyadong na hirapan. Pag training ang pinaka mahirap. Pag maintain ng weight. Grabe pagod namin, yon ang pinaka mahirap.” For the up and coming July 4^th fight with Francisco Rodriguez he will be going to the U.S. for special strength and conditioning to improve his speed and power.

PBA star Marc Pingris is mobbed by fans. Rexona Men was one of the many sponsors of PINOY PRIDE 30 D-DAY. Their endorser PBA star Marc Pingris was ringside catching all the action. He can also be seen in ads for other Unilever brands such as Master Facial Wash and was part of Master Game Face Challenge along with Chris Tiu. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Gilberto Parra lands jab; PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

From left: Donnie Nietes lands hard combo, which forces Parra to clinch once again. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Parra lands right straight round 9. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Nietes’ effective jab; PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

from left: Another heavy right hand lands for Nietes. Parra has no choice but to clinch to stop the onslaught. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Parra immediately clinches after knockdown. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Fans shoot victory pic w Donnie. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Rexona Men was one of the many sponsors of PINOY PRIDE 30 D-DAY. Their endorser PBA star Marc Pingris was ringside catching all the action. He can also be seen in ads for other Unilever brands such as Master Facial Wash and was part of Master Game Face Challenge along with Chris Tiu. Photo by Jude Bautista

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from left: Nonito Donaire Jr (NABF Super Bantamweight Champ) & Donnie Nietes (WBO World Jr Flyweight Champ). PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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from right: ABS CBN Head Integrated Sports Dino Laurena, ABS CBN Sports Consultant/Head of MNL Radio Div Peter Musngi and ALA Promotions Pres. & CEO Michael Aldeguer. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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3 champs from left: Nonito Donaire Jr (NABF Super Bantamweight Champ), Donnie Nietes (WBO World Jr Flyweight Champ) & Prince Albert Pagara (IBF Intercontinental Jr Featherweight Champ). PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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from left: Buboy Villar & Direk Paul Soriano was ringside to promote their boxing film KID KULAFU showing April 15, 2015 in cinemas nationwide. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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Donnie responds to questions during post fight press con. PINOY PRIDE 30 D-Day was held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum last March 28, 2015. Photo by Jude Bautista

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