THERE ARE rumors circulating that two-division world champion and the longest-reigning Filipino world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes will have a fight against current pound-for-pound champion WBC flyweight king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzales.
But Gonzales, in a report from Boxingscene.com, said that match won’t happen.
He said he met Nietes in Mexico to talk about the possible fight and the latter declined his offer when they were still in the 105-108-pound division.
“Donnie Nietes supposedly wants to fight me and unify titles, but when we were at 105-108 lbs, I met him in Mexico to talk about the fight and he did not want to [fight]. I honestly do not think he wants to fight me,” said Gonzales, who won over Filipino-Hawaiian Brian Viloria last Oct. 17 at the Madison Square Garden in New York to defend his WBC flyweight title.
The unbeaten Nicaraguan, the current number one pound-for-pound champion in all weight divisions, said Nietes is still in his top three list of possible opponents for next year. The two others are WBO and WBA world flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada and Japanese WBO World super-flyweight title champion Naoya Inoue.
What Gonzales is focusing on now is a fight against the controversial IBF flyweight champion and the unbeaten Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand, who’s been involved in a series of controversial fights that favor him.
The 33-year-old Nietes recently made a stunning debut in the United States when he defeated the No. 7 in his division, Juan Alejo of Mexico, in the main event of Pinoy Pride 33 main event feature for a voluntary title defense held in StubHub Center in Carson, California, USA.