Aston Palicte has earned a second shot at Donnie Nietes and the WBO super flyweight title.
In the main event of a boxing card in Alpine, California, Palicte easily overpowered fellow contender Jose Martinez, scoring a pair of knockdowns in the second round and then continued beating him until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight later in the round. With the win, Palicte has now become the mandatory challenger to the WBO super flyweight title being held by Nietes.
After a first round that saw Palicte score several power punches, the former title challenger continued to outland Martinez in the second round. It all started with a knockdown thanks to several body shots landed on Martinez. Martinez got back up but actively complained about getting hit in the back of the head, but the referee let the fight continue.
Palicte would knock Martinez down a second time about halfway through the round and once Martinez got back up, Palicte pressured his opponent to the ropes with nonstop power punches and the referee was left no choice but to stop the fight.
Nietes and Palicte had fought in September 2018 for the then-vacant title. The fight ended in a controversial draw, which meant the title remained vacant. At the WBO convention held several weeks later, the governing body ruled that Nietes and Kazuto Ioka would fight for the title on December 31, 2018 in Macau, China while Palicte had to fight Martinez in a title eliminator. Nietes ended up winning the title with a split decision win over Ioka.
The fight also headlined the first boxing card streamed on UFC Fight Pass since UFC and Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions signed an exclusive broadcast deal to show boxing cards on the streaming platform.
