The 29-year-old Filipino boxed beautifully early in the 12-round match, repeatedly scoring with punishing rights that kept his bigger Mexican opponent at bay.

But Nietes nearly faded in the middle rounds when Garcia mounted an attack, hammering him inside behind a series of vicious lefts that wore out the former janitor turned world champion.

Cheered on by a jam-packed crowd out to witness the first world title fight in the “City of Smiles,” Nietes managed to weather the onslaught and carved out the win that made him a two-time division champion.

Judge Danrex Tapdasan scored it 115-113, Liza Giampa 118-110 and Carlos Ortiz Jr. 117-111, all in favor of Nietes.

Garcia’s camp, however, demanded an immediate rematch, insisting the Mexican got the raw end of the deal.

“We want a rematch,” said Garcia’s trainer Leo Camacho through an interpreter. “With those kinds of judges, we will never have a chance of winning. The judges did us wrong.”

Nietes, the former WBO minimumweight champion, improved to 29-1-3, with 16 knockouts, and became the latest on an elite list of multititled Filipino boxers—pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, brothers Gerry and Dodie Boy Peñalosa, Luisito Espinosa, Nonito Donaire Jr. and Brian Viloria.