Championship night in the Philippines

By Peter Wells (twitter- @boxingsaddler):

While the Philippines have been ravaged by tragedy in the last month, superstar Manny Pacquiao brought back some elation to his beloved nation when he dominated Brandon Rios last weekend. Now on Saturday night, boxing returns to the Philippines as two of the countries world champions look to defend their respective crowns.

Boxing in the Philippines is rarely aired worldwide which will come as a disappointment to those that hear or read about the contests later on. Many fight of the year candidates have gone unnoticed in such countries as the Philippines and Thailand where lightning fast stars entertain hundreds with their all offence styles in the blissful heat. 

On Saturday WBO Minimumweight champion Merlito Sabillo 23-0(12) defends his title for the first time after dethroning Jorle Estrada in 9 rounds last time out.  His opponent Carlos Buitrago 27-0(16) of Nicaragua will likely deliver a much sterner test having bested unbeaten Julian Yedras last time out. 

But it is Sabillo who enters the contest hitting the peak of his career, coming in off the back of 5 stoppage victories including a notable 8^th round TKO of Luis de la Rosa in Columbia. But prior to his two recent wins Sabillo had not contested with any fighter at the same level as Buitrago who has mixed with slightly sterner opposition in his 5 years as a professional.

Sabillo known as a very good body puncher will look to break Buitrago down early as the two unbeaten combatants go toe-to-toe. Buitrago who hits harder than any of Sabillo’s previous opponents may force himself into the lead by the half way stage, keeping his guard tight before firing in the right hand against the southpaw champion, while his favoured left hook will also keep Sabillo honest. That will be countered regularly by the straight left from Sabillo whose fast hands could cause problems for Buitrago as the fight wears on. Behind on the scorecards Sabillo can rally late, finally chopping down the tough 21 year old challenger, stopping him in the 10^th round of a thoroughly entertaining contest.

Also featuring is one of the Philippines more well-known world champions, Donnie Nietes 31-1-4(17) who defends his WBO Light Flyweight title for the third time after claiming it back in 2011. His challenger will be the tough but limited Sammy Gutierrez 33-9-2(23) of Mexico.

Donnie the former WBO Minimumweight champion has barely put a foot wrong since outpointing Pornsawan Porpramook in 2007. That victory has been followed by wins over Erik Ramirez (UD 12) whom he floored four times yet still only won by a close margin on all three cards, Manuel Vargas (SD 12), Ramon Garcia Hirales (UD 12) and Felipe Salguero (UD 12). In his last contest he drew with Moises Fuentes, who is, outside of Porpramook by far his toughest opponent to date.

So while Nietes may have been fortunate in some of his encounters, his opponent Gutierrez has had no such luck finding himself at the wrong end of split and majority decision defeats to Raul Garcia before losing in 3 rounds in their 3^rd contest last December – Sammy’s last contest. He has also suffered at the hands of Nkosinathi Joyi (L TKO 7) after flooring the South African in the 5^th, and Juan Palacios (L UD 12) as well as 4 others. His only other stoppage defeat came at the hands of the little known Armando Torres (L TKO 8).

Nietes has a solid defence, but has been a victim of a lack of bustle in the ring, spending too much time looking for the perfect counterpunch. This could allow Gutierrez to outwork the champion, but the Mexican usually seems quite messy when he fires his shots which will give plenty of opportunities for Nietes to let his hands go, not like against Fuentes who boasted an equally tight guard. Gutierrez will struggle to land throughout but Nietes does not seem to have the power to force a stoppage and will have to settle for a comprehensive points win after a relatively one-sided contest. Bigger tests lie in wait for Nietes and fans will hope that he takes on those challenges with Nkosinathi Joyi and Adrien Hernandez hounding the Light Flyweight division while a rematch may be in the pipeline with Fuentes next year.

Elsewhere Jason Pegara 31-2(19) can stop Vladimir Baez 19-1-2(17) in possibly the fight of the night, albeit neither fighter will pose much of a challenge to a packed Light Welterweight world scene.
 

In another exciting encounter Milan Melindo 29-1(12) can outpoint Jose Alfredo Rodriguez 29-2(18) in a Flyweight contest.

Also in action on a separate card in America is the heavily tattooed and still unbeaten Paul Spadafora 48-0-1(19).

The former IBF Lightweight champion has wins over Israel Cardona (UD 12), Renato Cornett (TKO 11), Billy Irwin (UD 12), Angel Manfredy (UD 12) and Dennis Holbaek Pederson (UD 12). Now he will be hoping that a win over Johan Perez 17-1-1(12) for the interim WBA Light Welterweight title will bring him the big money fights he craves, and at the age of 38 not many more opportunities are out there for Spadafora.

Perez will be up for this contest as well, his only defeat coming via a technical decision to Pablo Cesar Cano when the fight was still very close. A victory last time out against Yoshihiro Kamegai (UD 10) will give the Venezuelan confidence he can upset the apple-cart and the counterpunching style that Spadafora applies may well be becoming less effective as he nears 40. As luck usually goes Perez will beat Spadafora, spoiling any chances of a shot at the big time for the Pittsburgh fighter. But the safe pick is for Spadafora to still have enough to make Perez miss, but it will be a tight and it will be a clear indication that time on the world scene is running thin for Spadafora to make a splash.