Promoter: Nietes will face Fuentes

 

The promoter of WBO junior flyweight titleholder Donnie Nietes has confirmed that Nietes will face WBO strawweight titleholder Moises Fuentes in either February or March.

 

Michael Aldegeur, president of ALA Promotions, tells RingTV.com that, while "nothing has been finalized or signed yet," the two will meet either in Nietes' home country of the Philippines or Fuentes' home country of Mexico.

 

Fuentes' trainer/manager Jorge Barrera Tapia is the brother of Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera, speaking with respected Filipino journalist Quinito Henson earlier this month, said that he would be accompanying Fuentes to Cebu, Philippines, for a Feb. 2 fight date to face Nietes. With only five weeks to go, a later date seems more viable.

 

The 30-year-old Nietes (31-1-3, 17 knockouts) of Bacolod City, Philippines is rated No. 2 by The Ring at junior flyweight and has held belts at 105 and 108 pounds. Nietes is no stranger to fighting in Mexico, having made three title defenses in Mexico, winning all three. Nietes' career has lacked a defining victory, however, and his last fight came a month ago, when he knocked out a Thai boxer with an 0-1 record.

 

Fuentes (16-1, 8 KOs), of Mexico City, is coming off his biggest victory to date, a fifth-round knockout of faded former champion Ivan Calderon in October. The 27-year-old Fuentes has made two defenses of the title that he won by defeating Raul Garcia by split-decision last August.

 

The lone losses of both fighters have come when their opponents exceeded the weight limit.

 

 

Photo / Jay Directo-AFP/Gettyimages

 

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News. He is also a member of The Ring ratings panel and can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.