Edmund Villamor (left) and Donnie Nietes (right). | Photo from Villamor’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Edmund Villamor, the long-time and trusted trainer of former four-division world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, didn’t leave a single stone unturned in training the latter for Wednesday’s (July 13) rematch against Kazuto Ioka in Japan for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) world super flyweight title.
Villamor and Nietes have been training in Cebu for months to prepare for the much-anticipated rematch against his ward and Japanese boxing superstar Ioka which they had already beaten on New Year’s Eve of 2018 in Cotai Arena in Macao, China.
In an interview with CDN Digital, Villamor said that Nietes’ experience and quality in training would be their main advantage against Ioka who was the defending world champion.
“Donnie has the skills to duplicate his win on New Year’s Eve 2018. We’ve studied Ioka’s last two fights and his style remained the same, he didn’t add (something) new to his style inside the ring,” said Villamor.
The 40-year-old Nietes will try to end the Philippines world title drought in boxing after his former stablemate in the ALA Boxing Gym, Mark Magsayo, lost the WBC world featherweight title to Mexican Rey Vargas via split decision on Sunday, in San Antonio, Texas.
“Donnie’s advantage is his experience fighting the best boxers and fighting in different places,” said Villamor.
“We’ve been training for months. Donnie’s been sparring three times a week, while his skills and conditioning training is twice a week. We’ve focused on building him more strength and muscle, at the same time, we’ve added more power and speed to his arsenal.”
Nietes defeated Ioka in their first encounter via split decision to win the WBO super flyweight title, but later on relinquished the title in 2019.
Nietes, regarded as one of the best Filipino boxers in history has a record of 43 wins with 23 knockouts, 1 defeat and 6 draws. He is also the longest-reigning Filipino boxing world champion.
Nietes last fought in December where he faced Dominican Republic’s Norbelto Jimenez in his debut fight under Probellum of Richard Schaefer. Nietes and Jimenez fought for a draw with the WBO international super flyweight title at stake.
Aside from his rigid training, Nietes also sparred with younger and more agile boxers such as Omega Boxing gym’s Franco Serafica, former world title challenger Jeo Santisima and his brother Alex.
Nietes also traded leathers with up-and-comer John May Acope, and former world title challenger and current No. 1 minimumweight contender Melvin Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Ioka hasn’t tasted defeat since his encounter with Nietes. He has a record of 28 wins with 2 defeats and 15 knockouts. His most recent bout was against fellow Japanese Ryoji Fukunaga where he won by unanimous decision.
He successfully defended the WBO world super flyweight title for the fourth time since winning it against Filipino Aston Palicte in 2019.
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