Future Hall-of-Famer & 4-Division World Champion Donnie ‘Ahas’ Nietes (42-1-5, 23KO), after careful consideration, has decided to vacate his WBO Super-Flyweight title-belt.
The reasoning behind it stems from the fact that Aston Palicte became a mandatory for the WBO belt, which would be a re-match from their fight that took place last year in September, which ended in a dubious draw ruling. Nietes, along with most pundits believed that Donnie had full control of the fight and won it by a wide margin, so he decided that it wasn’t worth taking a re-match of a bout that he felt that he dominated in large.
The good news for Nietes is that he still covets the mega fights between other elite fighters and titleholders in a deep Super-Flyweight division (Rungvisai, Ancajas, Estada, Yafai, etc.), and at 36 years of age, it is apparent that is all he cares about at this stage of his career, rounding out his career with great fights for the fans, and to further ensure his legacy.
On technicality, this ultimately ends his claim as the longest reigning Filipino World Champion of all time, culminating to a span of 11 years, 5 months.
