The past 12 months have been horrible for Philippine boxing. Manny Pacquiao suffered the worst defeat of his career last December at the hands of his nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. It started a losing skid for Filipino boxers as Brian Viloria and Nonito Donaire both lost their unified WBA and WBO world titles back in April. Milan Melindo also lost his first crack at a world title back in July.
But amidst the failures, two Filipino fighters managed to shine through and this Saturday they will defend their titles at the historic Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Merlito Sabillo (23-0-0, 12 KOs) and Donnie Nietes (31-1-4, 17 KOs) stand as giants in the boxing world largely deviod of the once dominant Filipino fighters.
Nietes also did not have the best outing in his last fight as he only managed a draw against Moises Fuentes back in March. He has been a champion for the majority of the past six years, winning the WBO minimumweight title and dropping it to grab the light flyweight version of the title. Needing to boost his confidence after his last sub-par performance, Nietes was brutally honest during the final press conference.
“I’m treating this like a tune-up match,” he said in Filipino. “I know this is a world title fight but I know it’s only a tune-up.” Nietes has been inactive for the past eight months.
His opponent, Sammy Gutierrez from Mexico, does not have a sterling record. He holds 33 wins against nine losses but he has power as 23 of his wins came via the short route. Gutierrez lost his last fight via knockout at the hands of Raul Garcia back last December. "I've fought experienced fighters and world champions. I'm not a tune-up opponent," he countered.
Sabillo on the other hand is currently having the best year of his young career. He won the interim WBO minimumweight title back in March with a technical knockout victory over Luis Dela Rosa. He converted this to a regular world title, the belt that Nietes vacated, in July with a knockout win against Jorle Estrada.
Still shying away from the spotlight, Sabillo marveled at the magnitude of the moment. “I’m overwhelmed that the fight will be in Araneta,” he said, also in Filipino. “Knowing that Manny Pacquiao already fought there is additional motivation for me to perform well.”
Up against Sabillo is the undefeated Carlos Buitrago from Nicaragua. He is the mandatory challenger and is undefeated in 27 fights, winning 16 by knockout.
Nietes and Sabillo were not the top picks as future world champions from the famed ALA Boxing Stable but because of their hard work, they exceeded all expectations to be two of only three reigning Filipino world champions in boxing. The two champions have their head trainer Edito Villamor to thank.
“The conditioning of the boys is good. We’re ready for the fights,” he said in an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Philippines. “Sammy Gutierrez is a tough and experienced fighter while Carlos Buitrago is undefeated. We knew they were tough opponents and we trained well for this fight.”
One of the questions often asked about fighters from the ALA Boxing stable is regarding their conditioning. Villamor was quick to dismiss this as a myth. “They say that our fighters lose steam in the late rounds but if you look at the last fight of Nietes, he won the 11th and 12th rounds,” he explained. “Our fighters pace themselves in some of the late rounds so they can finish strong in the championship rounds. It’s not because they’re tired.”
AJ Banal, Milan Melindo, Jason Pagara, and Jimrex Jaca will also be seeing action in the packed fight card.