Pinoy Pride XXXI-Clash of World Champions
Cebu City Waterfront Hotel & Casino, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
Pinoy Pride 31 Undercard Fights
[hdvideo playlistid=77 relatedvideos=on]
Donnie Nietes vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr Fight Replay
Mark Magsayo vs Rafael Reyes Fight Replay
Kevin Jake “KJ” Cataraja vs Ardi Tefa Fight Replay
Jorge Kahwagi vs Ramon Alejandro Olivas Fight Replay
Roli “Zuma” Gasca vs Rasmanudin Fight Replay
Elmo Traya vs Bryan Macamay Fight Replay
Very impressive results were obtained by Filipinos during the Pinoy Pride 31, but the most exciting was Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, who triumphed against his opponent, Mexican Francisco “Chihuas” Rodriguez. The fight took place on July 11, 2015 in Cebu City, Philippines at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino. “Clash of the World Champions” couldn’t have been more thrilling.
As the main event, the crowd waited in anticipation for Nietes and Rodriguez to have it out in the ring. Rodriguez is eleven years younger than 33-year-old Nietes, but Nietes’s experience and indomitable approach cannot be topped. In the past, Rodriguez has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimum weight champion titles. Nietes continues to guard his light flyweight titles. And during the Pinoy 31 main event, he did just that.
While both men entered the ring with equal intensity, Nietes outpunched Rodriguez, who did his best to protect himself against Nietes’s powerful blows and uppercuts. Round four saw Nietes’s aggressiveness, and in the fifth round the blows to Rodriguez’s face began showing as swelling. The next round saw a more cautious Rodriguez, while Nietes dominated.
By the end of the fight, the reigning champion admitted he had hurt his hand in the seventh round, and that he could have knocked Rodriguez out in the eighth round if it hadn’t been for his injury. Nietes was simply too skilled to take down, even with an injury, and plans to continue defending his win in future fights. Fie was prepared to take the upper hand, despite that he had to succumb the injury.
Nietes may be moved up in weight class in the future, and his management is planning a fight for next year as long as his injury is not too serious. Nietes is surely one of the greatest boxers of the Philippines, and we will be watching his future career with great interest.
Fight Results:
Donnie Nietes outboxes Francisco Rodriguez for 12 round and retains title
Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo captured his first title belt – the IBF Youth featherweight crown – with a spectacular fifth round TKO win against Mexico’s Rafael Reyes
Kevin Jake Cataraja stopped Tefa in the sixth round for his successful pro debut
Jorge Kahwagi knocks out Alejandro Olivas in the 1st round
Roli “Zuma” Gasca used a left hook to the jaw to knock out Rasmanudin of Indonesia in the second round
Elmo Traya knocked out Bryan Macamay in round 3