Donnie "Snake" Nietes captured the IBF flyweight championship at Pinoy Pride 40 on Saturday after he defeatedKomgrich Nantapechvia unanimous decision intheir showdown for the vacant title.The longest-reigning Filipino world champion in history added to his belt collection with a confident display at theWaterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebuhe already holds the WBO and WBO intercontinental crowns.Nantapech launched a mid-match comeback attempt after finding himself against the ropes early on, but Nietes bookended the fixture with a strong start and finish to prove himself a worthy three-division champion.The Ringreporter Ryan Songalia provided a breakdown of the judges' scorecards as Nietes added another notch to his improving flyweight record and took his career record to 40-1-4:Searching for a third world championship in his native Philippines, Nietes didn't take long to establish himself as the aggressor in Saturday's spectacle and opened the fixture with a series of fairly one-sided round victories.Nantapech found himself outpaced for the most part early on, and even though his 34-year-old was being economical with his punches, Nietes was squeaking enough through to edge the challenger on the cards.It wasn't until the third round that Nantapech really found his voice in the matchup and began to land anything in notable quantity, as noted by boxing analyst Ed Tolentino:The Thai contender finally began to find his footing approaching the midway point in the fight, and he might have counted both the fourth and the fifth as his first of the fixture that could have gone in his favour on the cards.That being said, much of Nantapech's forward momentum looked to be driven largely by sheer aggression while Nietes was cool in his operation, throwing combinations with far greater accuracy and frequency.Through eight rounds of the clash in Cebu,Songalia had the fight marked firmly in Nietes' favour, although the seasoned pro couldn't be considered out of reach at that point:Having already stood his ground as the bully for much of their encounter, Nietes began to make his push for the finish heading into the championship rounds, except Nantapech proved himself a tough recipient to any series of blows.Ariane Karlo Sacamos of SPIN.ph highlighted it was the more experienced of the two fighters who looked fresher entering the closing stages of the bout, despite being seven years his opponent's elder:Nantapech deserved his own credit for refusing to back down despite momentum swinging in favour of Nietes deep into the match, and it was evident he'd require a finish if he was to reverse the result at this stage.The push never came, however, and each fighter was relieved to hear the final bell after gassing themselves out with a grandstand finish that saw Nietes defend his enemy's last-ditch attempt to snatch the victory.With his 35th birthday now less than a fortnight away, questions will be asked as to where Nietes plans to go from here, although adding another belt to his collection indicates he plans to stick around for a while.Nantapech received a shot at the vacant IBF title after previous championJohnriel Casimero moved up in weight, but his future plans will need restructuring after he was outclassed by a more wizened foe on Saturday.
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