Longtime light-flyweight king Donnie Nietes made a successful flyweight debut with a dominant win over Edgar Sosa in the main event of Pinoy Pride 38: Philippines vs. Mexico at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
After ending his five-year reign as the WBO World Light Flyweight Champion, the 34-year old Negrense looked comfortable in his new weight class, evading Sosa’s punches with ease while landing an uppercut to momentarily stun the Mexican in the early parts of the fight.
In the succeeding rounds, Nietes jab was highlighted, continuing to land on Sosa’s face and was followed up with a solid right during the fourth round.
Entering the fifth round, Sosa was able to land a hard one to the jaw of Nietes but only to be at the receiving end once again of Ahas’ punches.
The 34 year old continued the onslaught as the fight went on with his pin-point accuracy. His strikes almost knocked Sosa in the tenth round thanks to a 1-2 punch combination – only to be saved by the bell. He continued to assert his dominance against the very tough Sosa in the last two rounds to claim the vacant WBO International Flyweight title with identical 120-108 across the board.
The win gave Nietes his 39th career victory in forty-four fights while Sosa dropped to 52-10.
In the co-main event, stablemates “King” Arthur Villanueva and Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo were able to notch victories in their respective fights.
Villanueva made sure to make up for his lackluster performance with an emphatic knockout win of Juan Jimenez to retain his WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title.
This was a rematch of their May 28 affair that ended in a bizarre fashion. With this precedent, both men entered the ring with something to prove.
Jimenez showed early success in the opening round but was only short-lived when the 27-year old Villanueva landed a stinging right hook that laid “El Peñita” flat on the canvas at the 2:20 mark of the second round to retain his title and put an end to their rivalry.
Magsayo, on the other hand, outclassed a very sturdy Ramiro Robles, coming out with a 119-107, 118-108, 120-106 unanimous decision victory to retain his WBO International Featherweight belt.
In the undercard, Filipino-Americans Joel Siapno and Ben Garcia dropped their fights – losing to Isaac Freeman and Latorrie Woodberry respectively.
Pinoy Pride 38: Philippines vs Mexico result
September 25, 2016 – StubHub Center, Carson, California
Vacant WBO Inter-Continental flyweight championship: Donnie Nietes def. Edgar Sosa via UD (120-108×3) to win the vacant crown
WBO International featherweight championship: Mark Magsayo def. Ramiro Robles via UD (119-107, 118-108, 120-106) to retain crown
WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight championship: Arthur Villanueva def. Juan Jimenez via KO (2:20, 2nd) to retain crown
Super Welterweight bout: Isaac Freeman def. Joel Siapno via KO (2:50, 4th)
Welterweight bout: Latorrie Woodberry beats Ben Garcia via SD (37-38, 39-38, 39-36)
Cesar Hernandez def. Martin Murillo via TKO (1:53, 2nd)
Abraham Ruiz defeats Ezra Hernandez via UD
