Nietes ready to mix it up with foe in enemy's turf

With over 300 rounds of sparring, including a tough one against former United States national team bantamweight standout David Clark, Filipino Donnie Nietes is ready to rumble against his Mexican counterpart – Mario Rodriguez. And the Filipino World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight (105 lbs) title holder is unperturbed defending his crown in enemy territory – in Sinaloa, Mexico – where Rodriguez is expected to be cheered no end by a throng of supporters. But the 28-year-old Nietes, who trained for one month in Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym, would rather focus on his opponent than pay attention to the predominant Mexican crowd. "I fought here before, and I never had a problem fighting here," said Nietes during an interview with GMANews.TV. It will be Nietes' fourth time to fight in enemy territory and the Murcia, Negros Occidental native has no problems with Mexico’s hot climate. Nietes has won two of his last three fights in Mexico – a split decision win over Manuel Vargas and a unanimous decision victory against Erik Ramirez both held last year. His fight against Rodriguez, a scheduled 12-round encounter, which will be his fourth defense of his WBO minimuweight strap, Saturday (Sunday in Manila) will be treated with a sense of urgency by the man known in boxing circuit as "Ahas." But will he be able to bring his lucky charm – his pet snake – inside the ring?

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV "I wasn't allowed to bring it last time. But with or without the snake, expect me to go all out and look for a knockout," said Nietes, whose previous fight with Jesus Silvestre lasted in 10 rounds when the Filipino champ stopped his rival. Promoting this bout is Box Latino of famed boxer Erik "El Terible" Morales, who partnered with Sampson Leukowicz of Sampson Boxing and ALA Promotions in making this bout to happen. Morales fought our very own Manny Pacquiao in a classic trilogy, the last two matches won decisively by the Filipino boxing icon, now widely acknowledged as the best pound-for-pound fighter. "This is the first time Guasave will have a world championship fight, it is a big magnitude for this small town in Mexico to be involved in a world championship fight," said Leukowicz. Rodriguez, though, is no pushover. He is the WBC Continental Americas champion, having won the title in a rematch against Raul Castañeda in a stunning 12th round TKO on May 15, 2009. The 22-year-old Rodriguez, known as "Dragoncito", holds a 10-5-3 win-loss-draw record. He won seven of his fights by way of knockout and suffered one loss by KO. Trainer Edmund Villamor said Nietes (26 wins 15 KO, 1 loss and three draws) is in great condition. Their fight plan is to study Rodriguez in the opening round instead of charging in. Nietes tipped the scales at exactly 105lbs. He is 1.8 lbs heavier than Rodriguez, who weighed in at 103.2. – JVP, GMANews.TV