By Ian S Palmer
Donnie Nietes of the Philippines will be taking on veteran Edgar Sosa of Mexico at the StubHub Center in Carson, California this Saturday, September 24th. The 12-round contest can be seen live in the U.S. on beIN Sports. Sosa last fought in February against Orlando Garcia Guerrero and won a six-round unanimous decision. Nietes’ last bout took place in May when he stopped Raul Garcia in the fifth round. Sosa is a former WBC World Light Flyweight Champion and owned the title for a couple of years before losing it to Rodel Mayol of the Philippines via a second-round stoppage in 2009. Nietes is a former WBO Light Flyweight champion who defended his belt nine times over about five years. This bout is for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Flyweight Championship.
Nietes has left the 108 lb. division and gave up his title belt at the same time to move up to 112 lbs and the flyweight division where he had hoped to land a shot at Roman Gonzalez. However, Gonzalez vacated the division and moved up to 118 lbs. Gonzalez faced Carlos Cuadras just over a week ago and took his title via a unanimous decision. Nietes will now be aiming for a title shot with unified Flyweight Champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico. The 34-year-old Nietes will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 38-1-4 along with 22 Kos.
Nietes lone defeat came at the hands of Angky Angkotta by way of a 10-round split decision back in 2004. He’s also fought draws with Moises Fuentes, Greg Mangan, Carlo Besares and Nino Suelo over the years. Nietes turned pro in 2003 and has fought 303 rounds since then. He stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 65.5 inches. He’s also got decent power for a small man as his current knockout ratio stands at 51 per cent.
The 37-year-old Sosa is 52-9 with 30 Kos to his name. His last big fight came against Roman Gonzalez in May of last year and was stopped in the second round. He’s beaten the likes of Ulises Solis and Giovani Segura, but has failed in three attempts at a world flyweight title. Sosa is getting on in years, but has plenty of ring experience with 15 world title fights under his belt. He was the WBC junior flyweight champion between 2007 and 2009 after beating Brian Viloria for the crown.
Even though Sosa held the belt for just a little over two years he defended it a total of 10 times. He took on WBC flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand in 2011, but dropped a decision in Bangkok. Sosa stands just a shade over 5-feet-3-inches tall and has a 67-inch reach. He’s fought 443 rounds since turning pro back in 2000. He’s been stopped three times, but also has decent power himself with a knockout ratio of 49 per cent.
Prediction…
Sosa shouldn’t be underestimated or taken lightly by Nietes since he’s a quality opponent with plenty of experience. Nietes should wear him down eventually though and a stoppage in the second half of the fight should be expected. There’s a slight chance Sosa goes the distance, but either way, Nietes should take the fight.
