By Nick Giongco
Three-division champion Donnie Nietes shoots for his fourth world crown in as many weight class when he faces Aston Palicte in the highly-popular SuperFly 3 card on HBO on Sept. 8 in Los Angeles.
Nietes (41-1-4 with 23 KOs) is coming off a win over Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina and will have his hands full versus Palicte (24-2 with 20 KOs) in a match to be held at The Forum.
It was earlier planned to have the Nietes-Palicte showdown next month in Cebu but promoter Tom Loeffler came calling and Nietes promoter Michael Aldeguer had no choice but to let Loeffler stage it instead.
It will be just the second time in a few months that Filipinos are facing off for a world title.
Last May, Jerwin Ancajas beat Jonas Sultan in Fresno, California.
The only other time two Filipinos battled for a world title was in the 1920s when Pancho Villa met Clever Sencio in Manila.
Undefeated since 2004, Nietes comes from Murcia while Palicte resides in nearby Bago City, both in Negros province.
Two other high-profile matches are on tap in SuperFly 3 with the aim of pitting the top performers of the series in a superfight down the road.
