MANILA – Negrense boxer Donnie Nietes will have a new opponent when he makes his ring return on April 3 at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Murcia, Negros Occidental-native Nietes will face Colombian Pablo Carrillo for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) International super flyweight title, D4G Promotions said.
Before the change of opponent, the former four-division world boxing champion Nietes was supposed to face the Panamanian fighter Oscar Penalba in a 10-round non-title clash.
Regardless of a new foe, Nietes is determined to score a convincing win as he hopes to contend for a world championship anew with World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada as primary target.
“I will go for a convincing win. If I can knock down my opponent, I will do it,” said Nietes. “It is very important for me to win convincingly against Carillo so that MTK Global can negotiate a fight for me with (Estrada).”
Currently, the 39-year-old Nietes has a 42-1-5 win-loss-draw ring record, including 23 stoppage wins. The Negrense boxer’s lone defeat was a controversial decision against Indonesian Angka Angkotta in 2004.
However, Carillo will not be a pushover of an opponent for the Negrense fighter even if he is just a last-minute replacement as he is the No. 8 ranked super flyweight boxer by WBA. He has operated at the highest level in boxing for several years, having previously shared the ring with several world champions, including Kazuto Ioka, Luis Concepcion, and Francisco Rodriguez Jr.
Carillo, who is the current WBA Fedebol super flyweight champion, has a 25-7-1 slate with 16 stoppage wins. He last stepped in the ring against Luis Golindano in August 2019.
The Nietes-Carillo clash will be the co-main event of the D2G Promotions, Top Rank, and Queensberry Promotions organized boxing card that is headlined by the Carl Frampton- Jamel Herring WBO super-featherweight title clash./PN