DONNIE Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion, has been honored by the people in his hometown of Murcia, Negros Occidental with a brass statue.
The statue was erected at the Municipal Hall of Nietes’ hometown of Murcia under the auspices of Mayor Andrew Montelibano and the municipal council.
It is regarded as a fitting tribute to one of the Philippines’ all-time greats who earlier this year surpassed the record of the late, great Hall of Famer Gabriel ‘Flash” Elorde who reigned as world junior lightweight champion for seven years, three months and 10 days. Like Nietes, Elorde never shunned a challenge and fought the best in his weight division.
Nietes has gone undefeated for more than a decade. His only loss on record is a seriously questionable split decision to Indonesia’s Angky Angkota in Jakarta which even the Indonesian promoter admitted was a bum decision and that Nietes really won that fight which was held at the RTCI Studios in Jakarta on September 28, 2004.
Nietes has a record of 38-1-4 with 22 knockouts and is scheduled to defend his title against mandatory challenger Moises Fuentes at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California on September 24 although Nietes wants to move up in weight and challenge WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada instead. Nietes had previously scored a devastating 9th round knockout of Fuentes in their last title showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena along Manila Bay.
Murcia is a first class municipality of Negros Occidental with a population of 81,286 people. The fast-growing town has become the growth center in the region especially for residential development.
It remains traffic and pollution free and boasts of an abundant water and power supply. Murcia has transformed from a predominantly agricultural town to an economic zone due to the efforts of the local government which has built road networks, bridges and other infrastructure projects connecting Murcia to Negros’ capital city, Bacolod.
The province hopes to replicate the industrialization boom in Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite and Subic areas.