Nonito Donaire Stops Fernando Montiel in 2

Nonito Donaire stops Fernando Montiel in the
second round Saturday night

By Randy De La O


Nonito Donaire did his best, this past Saturday, to make his case for being the number one Filipino fighter in the world, as well as solidifying his pound for pound ranking and he just might have stolen some of Manny Pacquiao's fans in the process. He beat a respectably good champion in Fernando Montiel, who had lost only twice in his career and has to be considered a fighter still in his prime before the match.

You could tell right from the start that Donaire was the quicker,sharper puncher. Montiel had his chin up and his hands low. After throwing a right hand and bringing it back way too low, Doniare caught him with a counter left hook. Montiel's legs were flailing. I don't know why the referee, Russell Mora, let it go on. Montiel a game fighter, for sure, got up from what appeared to be a devastating knockout and took a few more needless shots to the head. The light was already out.

My friend, retired Southland Sportswriter Bill O'Neill had this to say about Donaire: "All I can say is, Wow! His starching of Montiel is proof enough that his one-punch knockout of Vic Darchinyan a few years back was no fluke. It is rare to see a very good and deserving world champion get laid out like that. Darchinyan, you may recall, is a bully-boy in the mold of Jake LaMotta: just walking through good fighters, beating them up and beating them down. (One of the guys he beat on was Nonito's older brother, Glen Donaire--a very good fighter in his own right.) And Donaire put him down and out with one shot, just as he did Montiel.

I'm not quite ready to place the Filipino Flash (as Donaire is called) ahead of Terry McGovern, Manuel Ortiz, Ruben Olivares, and Eder Jofre just yet--but believe me, anyone his weight that he hits with that left hook is goin' down! One-shot knockout punchers come along only once every 20 years--if that often. And this kid has that kind of shocking power."


I couldn't agree more Donaire seems to be the real deal.