Donnie Nietes won the WBO light flyweight title via unanimous decision against Mexican puncher Ramon Garcia Hilares on Saturday in the main event of Pinoy Pride 9 at the St. La Salle coliseum in Bacolod City.

Donnie Nietes had a strong performance during the first rounds but as the bout progressed, he lost steam allowing Garcia to score.

However, the judges scored the bout all in favor of Nietes: 115-113, 118-110 and 117-111.

“Garcia was my toughest fight. He is a great champion. I had a hard time in the later rounds,” Nietes said in an interiew with PhilBoxing.com.

Garcia’s camp, however, claims that they were robbed of a victory because of the judges’ scoring.

Meanwhile, AJ “Bazooka” Banal and Albert Pagara also won their respective bouts in the undercard of Pinoy Pride 9.

Banal retained his WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title by beating Mexican Mario Macias, while Pagara, a late replacement for the injured Arthur Villanueva, defeated East African Shaaban Madilu.