Fernando Montiel to defend titles -- ESPN

By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com

The biggest boxing action often comes in the smallest packages, which is what fight fans are hoping for when unified bantamweight titleholder Fernando Montiel defends his belts against Nonito Donaire on Feb. 19 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

The 118-pound world title fight, which kicks off HBO's season of "Boxing After Dark" and pits fighters on the pound-for-pound list, was formally announced Monday.

"Eighteen years ago I promoted a fight with two 108-pound world champions which was one of the greatest events I ever promoted -- Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez at the Las Vegas Hilton," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. "It proved to everyone that dynamite can come in all size of packages. Montiel vs. Donaire will feature a matchup between two hard-punching bantamweights that is every bit as explosive as Carbajal-Gonzalez. It's a can't- miss fight and the fans will be assured of seeing a dynamite event."

Montiel, installed as a 2-to-1 underdog by the casino, will be making his fourth title defense and is coming off a second-round knockout of Jovanny Soto in a December non-title bout designed to be his final tune-up before facing Donaire.

Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs), who has not lost since 2006, is one of four Mexican fighters to win world titles in three weight divisions along with Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

He has also won titles at junior bantamweight and flyweight and said he is not concerned about being the underdog against Donaire. In April, Montiel was also the underdog when he went to Japan for a unification bout with Hozumi Hasegawa. Although Montiel was trailing on all three scorecards after three rounds, he stopped Hasegawa in the fourth round to unify two of the major belts.

"This is the kind of fight that motivates me," said Montiel, 31, of Mexico. "I am not worried about Nonito being the favorite. You should run to the sports book and bet me. It is a very important fight for me and a great opportunity to prove that I am one of the best fighters in the world. I expect a tough fight, but I also expect to win."

Said Fernando Beltran, Montiel's co-promoter, "We don't worry about odds. We were 3-to-1 underdogs in Japan when Fernando won a world title."

The 28-year-old Donaire (25-1, 17 KOs), a native of the Philippines who grew up in California, is a former flyweight titlist and interim junior bantamweight titlist. He fought as a bantamweight earlier in his career, but returned to the division on Dec. 4 in his final tune-up before the fight with Montiel and scored a dominant fourth-round knockout of former titlist Wladimir Sidorenko, who many considered to be a formidable opponent.

"Fernando Montiel is the best fighter I have ever faced and certainly the toughest challenge of my professional career," said Donaire, who has scored knockouts in eight of his last nine fights. "It's going to be a battle of strength and will. I'm leaving nothing to chance in training and when the final bell rings on Feb. 19, the Philippines will have another mark in the victory column against Mexico.

"I'm taking on a great champion and I'm going to prove where I stand in boxing. It will not go 12 rounds. I have power. He has power. I want to win by knockout. He wants to win by knockout."

HBO's telecast will open with a scheduled 12-round rematch between Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones (23-0, 18 KOs) and Mexico's Jesus Soto-Karass (24-5-3, 16 KOs), who fought an action-packed fight Nov. 13 on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito undercard at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Jones won a majority decision -- 97-93, 95-94 and 94-94 on the scorecards -- in a highly competitive fight. Jones nearly knocked Soto-Karass out in the second round, but he survived and battled back to nearly pull the upset.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Manny Pacquiao's Adviser Lashes Out at Shane Mosley Criticism -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

In an HBO pay per view televised, Top Rank Promotions bout on Nov. 13 from the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, eight-division king Manny Pacquiao scored a lopsided, unanimous decision rout over ex-titlist Antonio Margarito, adding the vacant junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt to the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) crown that he already owned.

The victory was Pacquiao's 13th straight during a run that has included eight knockouts since his last defeat, a March, 2005, unanimous decision loss to Erik Morales, whom Pacquiao has since twice stopped in the third and 10th rounds.

On May 7 in an HBO pay per view contest from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 knockouts) will defend his WBO belt against 39-year-old three-division, five-time titlist, Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), a selection for which Pacquiao and his handlers, including Top Rank Promotions CEO, Bob Arum, have taken much criticism.

Many observers consider Mosley to be over the hill, even as Pacquiao's dominance has gained him an aura of invincibility in the eyes of his own fans.

Mosley's not looked good in his past two fights, May's Golden Boy Promotions, lopsided, 12-round unanimous decision loss to six-time champion Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), and, September's split-decision draw with ex-champion, Sergio Mora (21-1-1, six KOs) that was contested at 154 pounds.

Still, he was chosen over 37-year-old WBO and WBA lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs) and 27-year-old WBC welterweight belt-holder Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KOs).




Berto had scored two straight knockouts, respectively, over southpaw former world champion Carlos Quintana (27-3, 22 KOs) in April and hard-punching Freddy Hernandez (29-1, 20 KOs) last month in the eighth and first rounds.

Marquez battled Pacquiao to a disputed draw, and lost a controversial, split-decision, respectively, in May of 2004, and, March, 2008, being knocked down a combined four times over the course of the two bouts.

Last month, Marquez rose from a third-round knockdown to win by an HBO televised, ninth-round knockout over former WBO interim champ Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KOs).

During a Monday interview with FanHouse, Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, defended the selection of Mosley.

"Again, who cares? I'm not too concerned, and nor is Manny, because, we want to do two things -- and when I say, 'we,' I'm speaking for Manny," said Koncz.

"No. 1, we want to entertain the fans, because that's of the utmost importance to Manny. No. 2, we want to generate a paycheck, because that's his living," said Koncz. "Out of the three names that we were giving, this was the best, overall opponent that we could get. Bob Arum never forces anything on us. He gives us options, and then, it's our decision on what we do."

Koncz lashed out at those whom he believes are denigrating Mosley's credentials and, by extension, Pacquiao's accomplishments.

"I mean, what's wrong with Mosley? Mosley is a very talented fighter who has got power in both hands. I mean, when you look at it, Manny has done nothing but taken on larger opponents ever since he fought Oscar De La Hoya, and it has taken the toll at times," said Koncz.

"I mean, Margarito hurt him in the sixth round when he caught Manny with that body shot," said Koncz. "There was similar criticism of Manny before we took the fight with Antonio Margarito, and then, after the fight, they changed their tune."

Koncz pointed to the fact that Mosley staggered Mayweather with a second-round right hand that appeared to have the Las Vegas resident on the verge of suffering his first loss.

"Shane Mosley damn near knocked out Floyd Mayweather," said Koncz, whose negotiations for a bout with Mayweather twice failed. "I think that during rounds one through round five, Mosley is a very, very dangerous opponent."

The 32-year-old Pacquiao and Mosley have three opponents in common -- Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs), Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya.

Mosley has scored a January 2009, ninth-round knockout over Margarito, this, after having been unanimously decisioned in July of 2007 in his failed bid to earn the WBA welterweight crown from Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs), whom Pacquiao dethroned as WBO 147-pound king by 12th-round stoppage in November of 2009. Cotto is now the WBA's junior middleweight champ.

Pacquiao also debuted as a welterweight with a December, 2008 eighth-round knockout of De La Hoya, whom Mosley decisioned for WBC welterweight belt in June of 2000, and, yet again, in September of 2003 to add the WBC's junior middleweight title to the WBA 154-pound crown that he already owned.

"That's the frustrating part of all of this is that Manny has accomplished so much in boxing. We've taken on Oscar De La Hoya, and we've done this and we've done that. Now, just because a guy is 39 years old, he's pasts his prime and not worth the fight?" said Koncz.

"Manny's career is winding down over the next two years or whatever, so here's a suggestion. Why don't all of those writers and guys who want to criticize us for fighting Mosley -- why don't they pull all of their money together, put it into a pot," said Koncz. "Then, they can give us the guaranteed purse that we're getting with the opponents that we're selecting and we'll fight anybody they want -- Juan Manuel Marquez, Andre Berto or whoever."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com