By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Former world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes will have another chance to hold a title belt after an arrangement from the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Stated in the WBO proposal is a mandatory title fight between Nietes and the current super-flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka of Japan but is yet to be agreed upon by both parties.
Luis Batista-Salas, WBO’s championship committee chairman, already sent the letter of request to both camps and gave them 30 days to reach a fight agreement and a formal negotiation.
“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee is hereby ordering the commencement of negotiations for the subject matter bout,” wrote Batista-Salas in his letter.
Initially, it was former Filipino champion Jerwin Ancajas who was set to face Ioka in a blockbuster super-flyweight unification bout but Japan’s stricter COVID-19 border rules prevented the match from materializing.
A re-negotiation of the fight was also planned out after the COVID-19 status in Japan relaxed but Ancajas’ recent loss to Fernando Martinez of Argentina scrapped the whole proposal.
Meanwhile, Nietes,39, is still out there seeking to reclaim his top spot status in the division after making his ring comeback last April 2021.
The four-time world champion is also looking to protect his stellar record of 43 wins, 23 knockouts, with only one loss and is tagged to be one of the most impressive professional records for the past two decades.
Ioka is also slowly cementing his name as one of the craftiest flyweight fighters after taking down the likes of Jeyvier Cintron, Kosei Tanaka, Francisco Rodriguez Jr., and Ryoji Fukunaga during his last fight stretch.
