Donnie Nietes, Aston Palicte draw at SuperFly 3 event in California

LONG-TIME champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and Aston “Mighty” Palicte fought to a draw in their All-Filipino world championship fight on Sunday (Manila time) at HBO and 360 Promotions’ SuperFly 3 event in California.

Fighting for the World Boxing Organization super flyweight title at The Forum in Inglewood, the contest ended in a split draw after the judges went 114-114, 116-112 for Mr. Palicte and 118-110 for Mr. Nietes in their scheduled 12-rounder.

Mr. Nietes bucked a slow start and showed his top form as the fight progressed, but in the end it proved to be not enough to sway things in his favor.

The draw deprived Mr. Nietes of the chance to become a four-division world champion, joining other legends of the sport, including compatriot Manny Pacquiao.

Mr. Nietes (41-1-5), however, kept his unbeaten streak, running for more than a decade now, intact. The fight incidentally was his first foray in the 115-pound weight division.

On the other hand, the draw saw Mr. Palicte (24-2-1) fall short of his quest of becoming a world champion.

Having the height advantage over Mr. Nietes, Mr. Palicte exploited it early on, frustrating the many-time champion.

Unfortunately for Mr. Palicte, 27, he could not sustain such as the 36-year-old Nietes exerted his expertise as a technical fighter and found his groove.

The Nietes-Palicte fight was the third All-Filipino world title fight in history and second this year, following that between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan in May for the International Boxing Federation super flyweight title which the former won.

The first All-Filipino world title fight was in 1925 between legendary flyweight Pancho Villa and Clever Sencio.