Donnie Nietes – Aston Palicte Ruled a Draw
Just like Kazuto Ioka, Donnie Nietes is a former three time, three-division world champion moving up to 115 lbs searching for a big money fight in the loaded Jr. Bantamweight division. The first step for a Nietes big money fight was supposed to be a win over Aston Palicte for the vacant IBF Jr. Bantamweight tonight. However, the fight was surprisingly declared a draw. The three judges score cards read 116-112 Palicte, 118-110 Nietes, and 114-114.
Nietes is a classy fighter; the definition of a craftsman in the ring who understands distance and knows how to use angles in the ring. The 36-year old Nietes used his customary boxing style early on; proving more effective overall. However, he had some slight problems dealing with the height and reach of the 5’8” Palicte.
Palicte had one main goal: to land power punches. However, the experience and guile of the 3x champion was evident and on display early on. With that being said, Palicte had a very good round four as Nietes did very little fighting; seemingly deciding to take that round off.
Nietes came back to form in the fifth, scoring with hard right hands and left hooks over the younger opponent. More right hands landed for Nietes in the sixth. The Old Master showed he still has a strong chin at an advanced age by enduring a hard right hand during that round.
The second half of the fight followed a basic pattern. Namely, Nietes doing what he needed to build points and outbox Palicte. While the crowd began to boo in spots, in the eyes of 3KingsBoxing, Donnie Nietes was doing what he needed to do to win.
The Verdict
Unsuprisingly, the wow factor was pretty high when the judges’ scores were read after the bout. For judge Robert Hoyle to score eight rounds in favor of Palicte is asinine. While this was far from the most action-packed bout, this fight was marred by some highly questionable scoring.
By: Michael Wilson Jr
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