Nietes climbs up in weight, relinquishes WBO crown

Serious in his bid to win a second world title, Donnie "Ahas" Nietes decided to relinquish his World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight crown to pursue the boxing body's version of the 108-pound championship belt instead. The 28-year-old Nietes officially climbs up in weight on April 9 when he makes his junior flyweight debut against Mexican Armando Vasquez in a 10-round bout at the St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City. A victory by the former helper turned boxing champion, one of the top guns of the star-studded ALA boxing stable, against Vazquez would line him up for a shot at the WBO junior flyweight crown to be disputed by Mexican Ramon Garcia and Colombian Jesus Gelez on April 30. ALA Boxing Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said he is doing everything to entice the winner of the Garcia-Gelez fight to defend his crown in the Philippines, hopefully by July. "We will try every best possible way to have the title fight here," said Aldeguer, who was with Nietes, ALA boxing promotions vice president Dennis Caniete and ALA boxing promotions director, marketing and media relations officer Chad Canares, in Tuesday's PSA Forum in Manila. "We believe this is the right time for Donnie to already move up in weight, considering he's been one of the longest reigning minimumweight champions," Aldeguer added. But that doesn't mean Nietes is already looking past Vazquez, a native of Baja, Mexico, who sports an 18-5 record, including four knockouts. "Hindi naman po tayo nagku-kumpiyansa especially against a Mexican. Handang-handa naman po tayo dito sa laban natin kay Vazquez," said Nietes, who began training for the fight last January. Nietes (27-1, 15 KOs) won the WBO 105-minimumweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Pornsawan Porpramok of Thailand at the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel and Casino in 2007. He successfully defended his crown four times, the last coming at the expense of Mexican Mario Rodriguez, whom he decisioned in Sinaloa, Mexico last August. - JVP, KY, GMA News