Jury still out on Nietes

No question, Donnie Nietes was the superior fighter as he easily outpointed fading former WBC lightflyweight champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico in their 12-round bout at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, last Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila time).

The bout was so one-sided that all three judges scored it a shutout for Nietes, 120-108. Note that none of the judges was Filipino. They were Max DeLuca, Alejandro Rochin and Pat Russell. Were the judges too generous to Nietes? If you stretch it, maybe, Sosa could’ve taken one round – the first because he was more aggressive, active and engaging. But Nietes was in full control of the fight starting the second stanza up to the end.

There were at least four instances where Sosa was wobbled. He was stunned in the second round, staggered in the fourth, jolted in the seventh and struggled to stay on his feet in the 10th. But Sosa, who has a slight resemblance to the legendary Ricardo (Finito) Lopez, never went down. Nietes blasted him with every punch in the book and the connections were solid. Sosa absorbed a battery of hooks, uppercuts, straights, crosses and whatever else Nietes dished out. Curiously, he never fell and that’s why the question of whether Nietes is able to carry his power over to the flyweight division remains unanswered. The jury is still out on that one.

Sosa, 37, was ripe for a tumble. Last February, he returned from his second round knockout loss to Chocolatito Gonzales to trounce a patsy named Orlando Guerrero in a sixer in Mexico City. The win was hardly an indication that Sosa was ready for Nietes. The sad truth is he’s over the hill. Sosa was once a revered WBC lightflyweight champion but he was dethroned on a second round stoppage by Filipino Rodel Mayol before his Mexican countrymen in 2009. Thrice, he tried to wrest the WBC flyweight crown but was repulsed by Pongsaklek Wongjongkam, Akira Yaegashi and Gonzalez. Sosa has now lost two of his last three outings, three of his last six. Maybe, it’s time to hang up the gloves.

Sosa couldn’t be that durable for Nietes not to put him on the canvas. In 2008, Filipino Sonny Boy Jaro decked him in round nine before losing on points. In 2009, Mayol floored him and scored a second round stoppage. In 2012, Sosa was dropped by Wilbert Uicab but recovered to notch a decision. And last year, he was brutally massacred by Gonzalez, falling thrice to capitulate at 2:37 of the second round. So Sosa’s chin isn’t exactly made of granite.

Nietes, 34, has scored 22 knockouts in posting a 39-1-4 record. The fight against Sosa was his flyweight debut and Nietes was supposed to showcase his power in the 112-pound division. As a lightflyweight, Nietes was a brutal puncher, decking the highly-regarded Moises Fuentes thrice two years ago and Raul Garcia twice last May. As a flyweight, he’s got to show the same kind of sock to make an impact in his campaign for a third world crown.

The win over Sosa re-established Nietes’ position as the WBO No. 1 contender. Right now, the WBO flyweight throne is vacant. No. 2 contender Zou Shiming of China and No. 3 contender Kwanpichit Onesongchai Gym of Thailand will figure in a grudge rematch in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas mainer in Las Vegas on Nov. 5. The winner of the Zou-Kwanpichit eliminator will face Nietes for the vacant WBO title. ALA Boxing president Michael Aldeguer said he hopes to stage it in Manila or Cebu. Zou decked Kwanpichit thrice but finished with his left eye swollen shut in scoring a win on points in Macau two years ago. The two-time Olympic gold medalist should beat the Thai once more and advance to duel with Nietes.

Freddie Roach trains Zou so he’s guided by the world’s best boxing coach. But against Nietes, power or no power, the Chinese star’s chances to win are slim or none. Nietes will pick Zou apart, piece by piece, and even if he isn’t able to score a knockout, the win will be convincing. It will be the same outcome if Kwanpichit wins over Zou and battles Nietes.

Once Nietes steps into the superflyweight division to tangle with the likes of Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada, then the power factor becomes critical. But if Nietes isn’t able to cross his power over to the flyweight division, what more to the superflyweight class?

In the undercard of the Nietes-Sosa bout, unbeaten Mark Magsayo dropped late substitute Ramiro Robles of Mexico twice enroute to posting a win by unanimous decision. Magsayo, 21, raised his record to 15-0, with 11 KOs, but has to be tested some more. Robles, looking like former world champion Manuel (Mantecas) Medina, wouldn’t back down despite trips to the canvas from a shot to the face and a blow to the side of the body. The courageous Mexican warrior kept moving forward, taking Magsayo’s best shots like a human punching bag.

Magsayo throws his punches from a wide angle and that leaves him open in the middle. His feet are far apart, making him vulnerable to a knockdown because he’s not well-balanced. Magsayo takes far too many blows and that’s dangerous. Against Chris Avalos in Cebu last April, he went down once before halting the American visitor. He could be another Boom Boom Bautista in the making.