By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
LAS VEGAS -- An explosive left hook by WBA interim super flyweight (115 pounds) titlist Nonito Donaire had briefly stretched out WBO and WBC bantamweight (118 pounds) champion Fernando Montiel on the canvas on Saturday night, both of his arms extended over his head, and his legs twitching involuntarily.
The 31-year-old Montiel (44-3-2, 34 knockouts) would rise, fall uncontrollably into the ropes, and rise, yet again, before referee Russell Mora rightfully protected him from further damage by his 28-year-old conqueror, Donaire (26-1, 18 KOs), leading to a stoppage at 2:25 of the second round and the Filipino fighter's 25th straight victory and 10th knockout in his past 12 fights at the Mandalay Bay in an HBO-televised thriller.
"That's the heart that he gave. And that's why I have so much respect for Fernando Montiel. A lot of guys would not have gotten up at all. But you see how hard it was for him to get up. That was his heart and his pride as a Mexican," said Donaire.
"I was very surprised that he got up because I landed the punch flush," said Donaire. "I knew that he was going to go down with that punch. I just never thought that he was going to get up, but he did."
Donaire was then brought ringside for interviews with reporters following what has to be considered a career-defining fight, even as the process was interrupted by an excited, semi-retired, former, four-division world champion, Roy Jones Jr., who was serving as an HBO analyst for a fight whose result made him so giddy that he simply had to come and tell the victor, face-to-face.
For not since six-time champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs) and eight-division, WBO welterweight (147 pounds) Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) had Jones witnessed such beautiful skill and ferocity, all at once, this, from Pacquiao's Philippines countryman in ending an 11-0-1 unbeaten streak for Montiel that had included nine knockouts, four straight stoppages and a mark of 5-0-1, with five knockouts in his previous six fights.
"Nobody else comes close to Pacquiao, Mayweather and Donaire. Mayweather would be No. 1 if he was active. Pacquiao is up there now," said Jones, shortly after a nearly minute-long, eye-to-eye conversation with Donaire during which he more or less told the fighter the same thing.
"And then there's this kid. All three of them are pound-for-pound. It ain't about a popularity contest," said Jones. "It's about who does the job. This kid do the job. I see this kid doing some special things that not many fighters can do."
Stopped for the first time in his career, Montiel is among five Mexican fighters to have won world titles over the course of three divisions -- the others being WBA and WBO lightweight (135 pounds) titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs), Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. (107-6-2, 86 KOs), Erik Morales (51-6, 35 KOs) and Marco Antonio Barrera (66-7, 43 KOs).
In addition, Montiel was coming off of April's sensational fourth-round knockout over Hozumi Hasegawa (29-3, 12 KOs), a man who was in search of his sixth straight stoppage during a 25-fight winning streak that had included 11 knockouts.
But in less than six minutes, Donaire reduced a near-legend to yet another knockout victim.
A statistic.
"I just needed an opening. From there, it was the speed. That was my main key. That and the openings that he gave me were all that I needed. Second-round, he was looking to see if he could take advantage. I wanted to see where his body was going to be," said Donaire.
"The first round, I wanted to test out what he was going to do and if I could counter, but he was smart. I was blocking a lot of his punches," said Donaire. "I knew where he was going to be. I pretty much memorized where he was going to be. And when I ducked to throw my punch, I knew that my punch would land. That's what happened."
The bout was the second for Donaire as a bantamweight, following December's fourth-round knockout of Volodymyr Sydorenko (22-2-2, seven KOs), whose nose he broke during a bout in which Sydorenko was dropped once each in the first, third and fourth rounds.
"I just feel more comfortable in this division. I think that my name is up there enough where they have to recognize me and to fight me," said Donaire.
"I want to be undisputed in the 118-pound weight class," said Donaire. "If that doesn't happen, I want to go up to 122 or maybe 126, and to just keep going and that's all that I want to do.""
Nicknamed "The Filipino Flash," Donaire would like to pursue unification bouts against the winner of an April 23, Showtime-televised bantamweight match up between unbeaten 25-year-old Mexican-born IBO and WBC silver belt king Abner Mares (21-0-1, 13 KOs), of Montebello, Calif., and Africa's 30-year-old two-time IBF champion, Joseph Agbeko (28-2, 22 KOs), that is slated for the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
The WBA's bantamweight king is 25-year-old southpaw Anselmo Moreno (30-1-1, 10 KOs) of Panama, who has a Feb. 26 defense against 32-year-old Lorenzo Parra (31-2-1, 18 KOs) of Venezuela.
If not a fight at 118 pounds, then Top Rank Promotions' CEO, Bob Arum, has a promotional stable full of possible opponents for Donaire, a man who is looking to follow the path of Pacquiao, who earned his record eighth crown over as many different weight divisions with November's unanimous decision over ex-champion Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs) for the WBC's junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt.
Other candidates for Donaire include Canadian southpaw IBF super bantamweight (122 pounds) king Steve Molitor (33-1, 12 KOs), and, WBO counter part Wilfredo Vazquez (20-0-1, 17 KOs).
There are also WBA and IBF featherweight (126 pounds) king Yuriorkis Gamboa (19-0, 15 KOs) and WBO counter part Juan Manuel Lopez (29-0, 26 KOs).
Still other future rivals could include lightweight (135 pounds) star, Brandon Rios (26-0-1, 19 KOs), who will meet WBA champ Miguel Acosta (28-3, 22 KOs) in a Showtime-televised bout on Feb. 26, or WBC lightweight champ, Humberto Soto (54-7-2, 32 KOs), who has an HBO televised, May 7 rematch with Urbano Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs) after having vanquished him by unanimous decision.
"I believe Pacquiao has given me this opportunity. I don't mind being No. 2 behind Pacquiao. I have the utmost respect for Manny Pacquiao," said Donaire.
"I just came out there believing in what I had. I predicted a second round KO three months ago," said Donaire. "I want to be undisputed in my weight class. Otherwise I'll put my trust in [manager] Cameron Dunkin to move up to 122 or 126."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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