MANILA – Aston Palicte punches his way to a rematch with fellow Negrense Donnie Nietes after a second round stoppage win over Puerto Rican Jose Martinez on Friday at the Viejas Casino & Resort in Alpine, California.
The Bago City, Negros Occidental native has been dominant since the opening round with his timely combinations against Martinez. The Puerto Rican had his shots later in the round but not enough to hurt his foe.
Palicte continued to pound on Martinez in the second frame to score two knockdowns before the referee was forced to stop the match with the Negrense raining down rights on top of the Puerto Rican’s head.
The Palicte-Martinez battle served as an eliminator for the WBO super flyweight championship, which was won by Murcia native Nietes over Japanese Kazuto Ioka last Dec. 31.
The impending encounter between the two Negrense pugilists will serve as a rematch following their first encounter in September last year which ended in a controversial split draw.
“I really believe na ako ang nanalo dun,” Palicte insisted on his bout against Nietes. “Good thing that I won against Martinez since I will have a chance to fight Donnie again.”
With the win, the 28-year-old Palicte improved his boxing slate to 25-2-1 win-loss-draw, including 21 stoppage wins. Martinez, meanwhile, tasted his first loss to drop to 20-1-2, with 13 knockout wins./PN
