VETERAN Filipino challenger Donnie Nietes lost last Wednesday night to Father Time and Japan’s Kazuto Ioka, who gained revenge by scoring a clear unanimous decision win to retain his World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight crown at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ota, Japan.
Although occasionally flashing his old brilliance, Nietes, 40, was a tad slow most of the time against Ioka, 33, who landed the more solid and crisper punches in winning the nod of all three judges by scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111.
With his 29th victory, 15 of them by knockout, against two losses, the Japanese champ avenged his split decision loss to his Filipino foe when they fought for the same belt on Dec. 31, 2018 at the Cotai Arena inside the Wynn Palace Hotel in Macau.
While absorbing only his second loss in 51 fights against six draws, Nietes will likely be thinking seriously about retirement as the skills that made him a former four-division world champion had visibly eroded in his rematch with Ioka.
The defeat came after erstwhile World Boxing Council featherweight titlist Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo was dethroned by tall and crafty Mexican contender Rey Vargas, who wrested the crown by split decision over the weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
