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Is the WBO playing games with Donnie Nietes?

Seen during the WBO World Light-Flyweight Championship between defending champion Philippines' Donnie Nietes (in violet-silver trunks) and Mexico's Sammy Gutierrez held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, on 30 November 2013. Nietes retained his title. (Voltaire Domingo/NPPA IMAGES)
Seen during the WBO World Light-Flyweight Championship between defending champion Philippines' Donnie Nietes (in violet-silver trunks) and Mexico's Sammy Gutierrez held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, on 30 November 2013. Nietes retained his title. (Voltaire Domingo/NPPA IMAGES)

The changes being rung in the opponents of World Boxing Organization light flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes is baffling and makes us wonder whether the WBC is playing games with Nietes.

As early as late January it was announced that Nietes was scheduled to defend his title against WBC International Silver champion Luis “Gallo” Ceja on March 28 at the classy Mall of Asia Arena.

Ceja was certainly a worthy contender who had won the WBC Silver title with a smashing fifth-round knockout of Alejandro Morales whose eye was swollen from round three and was dropped towards the end of round four and refused to come out for the fifth on February 9, 2013.

However Ceja lost the title via a 12-round unanimous decision to Jose Alfredo Zuniga on June 8 that same year.

Ceja has a record of 26-5-3 with 21 knockouts which indicates that the Mexican can punch.
ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer confirmed the Nietes title defense and so did Ceja’s manager Antonio Lozada, a likable gentleman who has been to the Philippines a few times.

In fact, Lozada disclosed that he had received and signed the fight contract and sent it back to Aldeguer.

In an inexplicable turn of events, the WBO apparently ignored the agreements reached and the contracts signed between the camps of Nietes and Ceja and ordered Nietes to defend his title against mandatory challenger Francisco Rodriguez Jr, the 21-year-old Mexican who has a record of 17-2-1 with 11 knockouts.

The information reached ALA Promotions even as Nietes was preparing for his voluntary defense against Ceja which the WBO had been informed about.

While he was “surprised” at the WBO decision, Aldeguer told Yahoo Sports that he had consulted Nietes and his coaching staff headed by trainers Edmundo and Edito “Ala” Villamor who said they were “ready and willing” to face Rodriguez.

At that point Aldeguer told us he was hoping WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel would allow Nietes to go ahead with the planned defense against Ceja on March 28 before undertaking the mandatory defense against Rodriguez sometime in July.

At the same time Aldeguer said he didn’t know whether Rodriguez’s handler Fernando Beltran would agree to a title fight on March 28 in the Philippines.

In a communication dated January 29,  both Aldeguer and Beltran, who heads Zanfer Promotions, received a communication from the Chairman of the WBO Championship Committee, Luis Batista Salas in which he stated, “ Please be advised the parties (ALA Promotions and Zanfer) have 30 days to negotiate an agreement. If an accord is not readied within the time frame, a Purse Bid will be ordered in the following 10 days.”

Salas added “if it goes to a Purse Bid, the minimum amount for the junior flyweight division is $80,000” even as he indicated that “any of the parties involved may call for a Purse Bid at any time during the negotiation process.”

In another strange twist, Aldeguer learned last Monday, February 23, that Rodriguez “wasn’t ready to fight on March 28” and that Nietes will now have to defend his title against Gilberto Parra who is ranked No. 13 by the WBO  while Nietes – should he win as expected – will face Rodriguez in a mandatory title defense on July 4.

Aldeguer told Yahoo Sports he was hoping that the fight contract would be done by Wednesday, February 25.

The merry-go-round once again highlights the difficulties Filipino promoters face in dealing with Zanfer while it also raises the more important question as to why the WBO insisted on a mandatory title defense when Rodriguez, the challenger, was apparently not ready.

Parra is a worthy challenger although the WBO ratings don’t quite reflect his record of 17 knockouts in 19 wins with two losses, one of them against Martin Tecuapetla who won a fairly lopsided 10-round decision on November 2, 2013.

Tecuapetla is the same fighter who dropped a 10-round majority decision to Milan Melindo in a clash for the WBO International flyweight title on May 10, 2014.

In his last fight on February 14 this year, Parra was cut on his left eye after an accidental clash of heads in a scheduled 10-round bout against Maximino Flores with the bout being declared a no-contest.

As the longest reigning Filipino world champion and a fighter who has often travelled to Mexico to defend his title without any qualms, Nietes and his training team are obviously confident he can continue to keep his winning streak going as he himself recently announced, “for another three years.”

But the willingness of Nietes and ALA Promotions does not mean that the WBO should take things for granted.

One wonders how the WBO Championship Committee chairman can order Nietes to face Rodriguez in a mandatory title defense when Rodriguez was not ready to fight on the March 28 date.

Was this part of a ploy by Zanfer to play mind games with Nietes who was preparing to face Ceja when he was informed he’d have to face Rodriguez in a mandatory and will wind up facing Parra.

Indeed, one wonders whether the WBO is playing games with the longest-reigning Filipino world champion.