Donnie Nietes set for boxing return against Dominican foe

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Donnie “Ahas” Nietes is back.

After eight months of layoff, the former four-weight division world champion will be back in the boxing ring and will face the dangerous Norbelto Jimenez of Dominican Republic.

Months following Nietes’ convincing win against Pablo Carillo of Colombia last April, Nietes will mark his return in the sport on December 11 in a bout arranged by the Probellum Promotions.

The boxing promotions company announced Nietes’ fight against Jimenez will be put under the Johnriel Casimero title fight against Paul Butler in Dubai.

Despite Nietes coming in as the heavy favorite, the Filipino boxer shouldn’t take Jimenez lightly as he was able to fight in two world title bouts: first against Japanese Kohei Kono for the WBA super-flyweight belt and Khalid Yafai for the same belt in 2019.

However, Jimenez lost both of his world title shot matches and is still eager to get back on track with an impressive 30-9-5 professional record.

Meanwhile, Nietes, is still considered as one of the steadiest punchers in the sport with a 43-1 (23 knockouts) record.

Aside from Nietes and Casimero, another Filipino, Jayson Mama, will also see action against Sunny Edwards for the IBF Flyweight championship belt.