Donnie Nietes' return to the boxing ring after 27 months ended with a unanimous-decision win over Pablo Carrillo on Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the vacant WBO international super flyweight title.
The three judges awarded the 10-round fight to Nietes by 99-91, 98-92 and 96-95 scores.
Per CompuBox (h/t Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene), Nietes landed 97 of 425 punches (23 percent), and Carrillo connected on 81 of 415 total punches (19 percent).
Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook gave his take in a recap of the fight:
"The 38-year-old Nietes seemed to warm to the fight in the latter stages, looking sharp and sound still in the final four rounds, while Colombia’s Carrillo (25-8-1, 16 KO) never found quite enough success, though he did have some, landing solid shots here and there."
The fight served as the lead-in for the WBO junior lightweight title matchup between champion Jamel Herring and challenger Carl Frampton.
Nietes, a four-weight world champion, is now 43-1 with five draws. He has gone undefeated in his last 36 matches, with his lone professional defeat occurring in September 2004.
He's also seventh on BoxRec's super flyweight rankings.
As for what's next, Nietes told Ryan Songalia of Ring Magazine before the fight that he has his sights set on super flyweights Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez and Wisaksil Wangek, who are currently No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 in BoxRec's division rankings.
Carrillo fell to 25-8-1. He had won nine of his last 12 fights leading into the Nietes match.
You could forgive Donnie Nietes fans if they thought their favorite fighter's career were over.
The popular four-division world champion last fought in December 2018, earning a split-decision win over Kazuto Ioka. There have been few rumblings suggesting a return to the ring since then, but Ahas is back on a big stage. Nietes (42-1-5, 23 KOs) will take on Pablo Carrillo (25-7-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday on the undercard of the Carl Frampton-Jamel Herring championship bout in Dubai.
The vacant WBO international junior-bantamweight title is on the line in this scheduled 10-round bout. Nietes will be out to prove he can still put on a show at the age of 38 and despite a 27-month gap between appearances.
Carrillo, a veteran fighter out of Colombia, is taking the bout on relatively short notice. He was announced as a replacement for unbeaten prospect Orlando Penalba in mid-March. If he can pull off the upset, it will be the highlight of his career.
Nietes vs. Carrillo Fight Info
When: Saturday, Apr. 3 at 4 p.m. ET (main card)
Where: Caesars Palace Dubai in Dubai
TV: Channel 5 (UK)
Live stream: ESPN+ (US), IFL TV Youtube Channel (UK)
Odds: Nietes 1-8, Carrillo 11-2 (via Oddschecker, correct as of Thursday 7 a.m. ET)
Changing an opponent on such short notice can throw a wrench in some fighters' plans, but Nietes doesn't appear to be bothered by the switch from Penalba to Carrillo.
"This will be a better fight because it's for a belt,” Nietes said, per the SunStar Cebu. "I won't make any adjustments in my training. I'll continue to do what I'm doing. I'll make my adjustment on top of the ring. That's what I usually do in fights."
For an aging fighter returning from his longest spell between fights, a journeyman with seven losses seems much safer than an undefeated 27-year-old looking to make a name for himself. Nietes' last bout was against a one-loss fighter in Ioka, and some felt the decision could have gone the other way. Carrillo is a classic tune-up opponent, and Nietes will be looking build confidence and erase concerns about his age and diminishing skill set.
There's not much working in Carrillo's favor in this one. Not only is he taking the fight on late notice, but he's also had a fairly long spell away from the ring himself. Carrillo last fought in August 2019, beating Luis Golindano by fifth-round stoppage. Nietes, even in the late stage of his career, represents a huge jump in pedigree for Carrillo. He's gonna need to bring his best stuff to Dubai if he wants to have a chance in this one.
If Nietes, a heavy favorite, beats Carrillo handily, he could be put on a fast-track to world title contention. He has just one loss on his record and is the longest-reigning Filipino world champion ever.
The junior-bantamweight division doesn't have a ton of big names, and Nietes would make an attractive opponent for titleholders. He even told the SunStar Cebu that he would "love a rematch" with Ioka, who holds the WBO world title at 115 pounds. If all goes well Saturday, don't expect Nietes to have to wait another two years to get back into the ring.
Joshua Franco retained the WBA super flyweight championship after a controversial no-decision against Andrew Moloney.
Franco was stopped after two rounds when his right eye was swollen shut, but the officials ruled the injury was due to an accidental headbutt.
After over 25 minutes of replay review—which showed no apparent clash of heads—judges kept their initial call of an accidental headbutt, per Lance Pugmire of The Athletic.
Referee Robert Byrd said he saw two headbutts during the match:
"This is an absolute disgrace," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said afterward. "There was no headbutt. Moloney should be the champion."
Moloney spoke about the decision after the match:
Arum had a heated exchange with Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett after the announcement and the two had to be separated, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Former world champion Timothy Bradley Jr. explained it was a legal jab in the second round that caused the swelling:
Most watching along also sided with Moloney:
Moloney was seeking to avenge his June loss to Franco by unanimous decision, the first loss in the Australian's career.
He will hope he showed enough in the first two rounds Saturday to earn another shot to regain his title.
Boxing fans will be seeing double in this week's lineup of Top Rank fight cards. Andrew Moloney is set to defend his WBA world super flyweight title against Joshua Franco on Tuesday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Two nights later, his twin brother, Jason Moloney, will take on Leonardo Baez in a 10-round bantamweight match, also at the MGM Grand.
Top Rank's summer series doesn't have an audience for the matches as the promoter navigates the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. While they've been critical to the sport's return, they haven't been entirely successful. A handful of fights have been scrapped because of COVID-19 infections, the most notable being Mikkel LesPierre missing a headlining bout against Jose Pedraza on June 18 because his manager contracted the disease, per ESPN.com's Steve Kim.
Despite the setbacks, Top Rank is moving forward with the action. Tuesday's televised card will feature five fights, ending with the Moloney-Franco scrap. You can catch it live on ESPN or streaming on ESPN+, starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Fight Card
Andrew Moloney (21-0, 14 KOs) vs. Joshua Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs): Super Flyweight, 12 rounds
Christopher Diaz (25-2, 16 KOs) vs. Jason Sanchez (15-1, 8 KOs): Featherweight, 10 rounds
Joseph Adorno (14-0-1, 12 KOs) vs. Alexis del Bosque (17-5, 9 KOs): Lightweight, 8 rounds
Miguel Contreras (10-0, 6 KOs) vs. Rolando Vargas (5-0, 5 KOs): Junior Welterweight, 6 rounds
Helaman Olguin (7-3, 3 KOs) vs. Adam Stewart (8-0-1, 5 KOs): Heavyweight, 6 rounds
Full card info on TopRank.com
Odds (via Oddschecker)
Moloney -1000 (bet $1,000 to win $100), Franco +625 (bet $100 to win $625)
Main Event Preview
The Moloney-Franco tilt is billed as a world title fight, but there's a caveat to that. Moloney holds the WBA "world" super flyweight title, but the real king of the WBA at 115 pounds is Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, who holds the "super world' championship.
This isn't to say the fight won't be interesting. Moloney, a 29-year-old from Australia, has a belt and an undefeated record to protect. This is his first fight in seven months after he got into a difficult war with Elton Dharry that ended in a TKO in the ninth round. As Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ noted, Moloney was lucky to get out of a difficult fifth round, where the referee should have scored a knockdown against him.
Franco is coming off a stoppage win over Jose Alejandro in January. Prior to that, he fought three times against Oscar Negrete, drawing twice and winning once. The 24-year-old from San Antonio is a tough fighter who won't back down from a challenge.
Moloney has done his homework on the challenger, per the Sydney Morning Herald's Phil Lutton:
"He's a good fighter. I'm a big boxing fan. I keep a very close eye on all the guys in my division. I've seen him fight quite a few times and have watched a lot of footage. He puts his combinations together well, he comes to fight and win. It's his first shot at a world title. But I believe I'm a little bit better than him in every aspect."
If Moloney can make it through this fight, which is his U.S. debut, it's possible he can score a match against Chocolatito, who may have lost a step in recent years but is considered one of the most skilled boxers around.
