FOR Donnie Nietes, it’s the chance to further cement his boxing legacy.
For Ashton Palicte, it’s the culmination of his long cherished dream.
The world gets to witness two of the country’s finest boxers go at each other on Sunday (Manila time) as they tangle for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-flyweight crown at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Both Palicte and Nietes tipped the scales below the 115-lbs limit during the official weigh-on Saturday. Nietes came in at 114.8 while Palicte was at 114.6.
The title fight will be the second time this year two Filipinos will battle each other with a world championship at stake after Jerwin Ancajas outpointed Jonas Sultan last May to retain his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown in Fresno, California.
But Nietes and Palicte vow to upstage the Ancajas-Sultan title tiff as they promise better action in one of the featured bouts in the third edition of the highly-popular ‘Superfly’ series.
“Ready to go na sa fight,” said trainer Edito Villamor of Nietes, a former three-time world champion whose record stands at 41-1-4 with 23 KOs.
“Sports lang, walang personalan,” said Palicte, who holds a 24-2 record with 20 KOs.
Nietes is nine years older at 36 to Palicte, a former amateur team standout, who has a four-inch height advantage at 5-foot-7.
Both hail from Negros Occidental.
Jack Reiss will be the third man in the ring, while the three judges who will scored the bout are Robert Hoyle, Daniel Sandoval, and Max De Luca.
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