Age and inactivity merged in Donnie Nietes' defeat in Ioka rematch, analyst says

Veteran boxing analyst Ed Tolentino believes that both age and inactivity caused the downfall of Donnie Nietes in his failed world title attempt against WBO world super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka last week in Japan.

Nietes, 40, defeated Ioka in their first encounter in 2018 where he emerged victorious via split decision. The rematch, however, had no semblance of the first fight as Nietes looked every bit of his age en route to losing via lopsided unanimous decision.

"Even though he was on an unbeaten streak, he only fought twice since 2018 and he is now 40 years old. Inactivity and age merged and we saw that in his fight against Ioka. His performance was a far cry from the first fight," Tolentino told Sparring Sessions LIVE.

"40 is 40 and we cannot cheat age. Though that is a young age for a regular individual that is already dog years for a boxer. Ioka knew that so I feel he immediately wanted to fight Nietes knowing Nietes is at a disadvantage."

And while Nietes fell short in the rematch, Tolentino still credited the former four-division champion for making it to the final bell.

"We cannot defy father time in boxing; that is an invisible opponent of a boxer. We all saw how he moved, it was way different and Nietes was made to go back by the body punches," Tolentino said.

"Things are different now but we cannot deny the toughness of Nietes. We cannot deny that age contributed, we saw that in the early rounds."

—MGP, GMA News