Tactical fight should not have ended in a split draw — analyst

THE THIRD all-Filipino world championship fight in boxing history took place on Sunday (Manila time) in California, but unfortunately it failed to end with a resolution as the clash between Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and Aston “Mighty” Palicte for the World Boxing Organization super-flyweight title ended in a split draw.
Such should not have been the case, a local fight analyst said, for despite being a true tactical fight there was a clear winner, and it was Murcia, Negros Occidental’s Nietes.
Part of the “SuperFly 3” event of HBO and 360 Promotions that was held at the legendary The Forum in Inglewood, the scheduled 12-round world title fight went the distance and was eventually ruled a split draw, with the judges’ scorecards going 118-110 (Nietes), 116-112 (Palicte) and 114-114 (draw).
For combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano, while the fight was indeed a close one, Mr. Nietes did more than enough to merit a victory and fulfil his date with history as a four-division world champion.
“As to how I scored and saw the bout, Nietes was well on his way to capturing a fourth division world championship… Honestly, if you’re going to ask me, I had it nine rounds to three in favor of Nietes. It was a close fight round per round, but Nietes did enough to pull away in those close rounds. The stats of the bout should also speak for itself. Nietes outlanded Palicte in the total number of punches. Moreover, Nietes landed more power punches,” said Mr. Icasiano when asked by BusinessWorld for his thoughts post-fight.
“[While] the number of punches thrown and landed does not always tell the whole picture, it definitely does help in showing how it played out,” he added.
The analyst went on to say that Mr. Nietes, who have won titles as a minimumweight, light flyweight and flyweight, had a slow start but eventually picked things up as the fight progressed.
“The fight was tactical from the very start, which drew the ire of many in attendance to see the bout live. Palicte had his moments, but Nietes clearly dominated the bout especially in the latter part. Nietes used his savvy boxing skills to break down Palicte. He clearly landed the more significant punches and combinations and managed to control Palicte’s aggressiveness,” Mr. Icasiano said of how things went for 36-year-old Nietes.
“For Palicte, he was the more active boxer. Palicte tried to use his height to his advantage, but he had futile success with Nietes able to make his way inside,” he added.
While the status quo has been preserved following the draw, still Mr. Icasiano said the outcome dealt a blow to both fighters’ career thrusts.
“There are a lot of options for Nietes’ camp. First, Michael Aldeguer may write the WBO to look into the result of the fight. Second, Nietes has the leverage because he remains as the No. 1 boxer in the WBO super-flyweight rankings. Meanwhile, Palicte still occupies the No. 2 spot. But I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t get the rematch nor the shot at the vacant title after the win of former WBA flyweight champ Kazuto Ioka against No. 3-ranked McWilliams Arroyo on the same card last weekend,” he said.
“The only downside I see with Nietes’ anticlimactic draw against Palicte is that it spoils Nietes’ plan to secure big money fights against other 115-pound champions,” Mr. Icasiano said.
The Palicte fight was the first foray of Mr. Nietes (41-1-5) in super-flyweight while Mr. Palicte (24-2-1) was trying to add his name to the roster of Filipino world boxing champions in said fight. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo