After his recent successful mandatory title defense on U.S. soil for the first time in his career, the longest reigning Filipino boxing world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes got another title he so richly deserved.
Nietes who extended his stay in the U.S. after defeating Juan Alejo of Mexico via a unanimous decision last October 18 in Stub Hub Center in Carson City, California in the main event of Pinoy Pride 33, was accorded the prestigious world Super Champion title by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) during its 28th Annual Convention in Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Super Champion title was given last Thursday night during the gala dinner of the WBO Convention attended by the boxing body’s top honchos, promoters and fight judges from all over the globe, according to reports from Philboxing.com.
The 33-year old Nietes has a record of 37 wins, one loss with four draws adorned with 27 knockouts. He is a world champion since 2007 making him the longest reigning Filipino world champion in boxing.
The Murcia, Bacolod native, who is a stalwart of the famed ALA gym of Cebu, is also a two-division world champion having reigned for a long time in the minimum weight division.
A Super Champion is a rare recognition given by the WBO, one of the world’s top governing bodies in boxing, to its champions who have achieved preeminent status while holding the championship belt.
With this latest gleaming accolade, Nietes joins an elite group of WBO super champions including Filipino 8-division champ Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine, Marco Huck of Germany and Sergey Kovalev of Russia.