By Joseph Herron: Fighters and fight fans alike have always been a rare breed. As every second of every round ticks away, we love to see the drama of a great scrap unfold. We live to see our favorite fighters leave everything in the ring for our entertainment. If you ask any prizefighter why they have chosen this profession over everything else they could have done in life, more often than not, they will tell you, “I don’t know, boxing kind of chose me…I didn’t choose boxing…I really can’t explain it.” I guess you could say that it was simply “meant to be.” On Saturday night, February 19th, boxing fans will be treated to a fight that was simply “meant to be”.At the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, Fernando Montiel will defend his WBO and WBC Bantamweight titles against the dangerously slick, Nonito Donaire. These two former Flyweight Champions, and current top ten P4P fighters, will collide to determine who the better man is at 118 lbs. Strangely enough, this fight will not decide complete supremacy in the Bantamweight division, despite the caliber of both fighters. The “Filipino Flash” admittedly hasn’t done enough at Bantamweight to merit legitimate superiority at 118 lbs, so the winner of this bout will more than likely have to eventually face the victor of the Mares/Agbeko match-up later this year. Most boxing scribes view this to be a mere technicality.
Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire are two elite level prizefighters who are considered to be two of the best in the business, and for our enjoyment will “face off” this Saturday night. What makes this fight so intriguing? Both fight media and boxing fans around the world have been focusing on this potential match-up for years and have considered this P4P fight to be a true barber shop discussion dream match-up. Why?
Both fighters have displayed the kind of dominant performances we, as fight fans, expect from our champions, and both men have refused to walk away from the best opposition available. The boxing world knew that these two pugilists would eventually face one another...their character told us that this fight was inevitably going to happen.
“El Cochulito” hasn’t lost a fight since his split decision loss to former Bantamweight Champion, Jhonny Gonzalez, in 2006. He has not only defeated his most recent opposition, Montiel has knocked out 7 out of his last 9 opponents. At 118 lbs, this is no small feat and is definitely worth mass recognition.
The “Filipino Flash” hasn’t been defeated since 2001, when he suffered his only loss, via unanimous decision, to Rosendo Sanchez. Since defeating Vic Darchinyan by improbable and devastating knock-out in 2007, Donaire has looked, not only dominant, but unbeatable at Flyweight and Super Flyweight. In fact, during a recent fight with Mexican fighter, Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, Nonito fought the first 5 rounds of that bout in a southpaw stance to simply make the style match-up “a little more challenging”.
I guess you could make the assessment that both fighters are at the “top of their game”, and a loss for either fighter seems impossible. These two factors are why this fight is so intriguing.
This is exactly what the sport of boxing needs: two pound for pound, elite level fighters deciding to fight each other without regard to the possibility of loss. Make no mistake…one fighter will not only lose, but will more than likely get knocked out. This doesn’t seem to bother either man.
Both Donaire and Montiel realize that a potential loss does not necessarily equate to financial and professional disaster. It could actually lead to even more clout and critical demand within the sport of boxing. Boxing media and fight fans agree that a fighter who has the courage and willingness to fight the best fighters available, win or lose, should be rewarded with bigger paydays and more eventful fights. The entire sport of boxing always benefits from the unselfish and risk-taking pugilists…always.
The adverse is also true: The entire sport of boxing always suffers when the conscientious and the uneventful pugilists refuse to fight the best fighters available…always.
So on February 19th, reward the network, the promoters, and the fighters for simply making this fight happen, not only by tuning in, but by informing and encouraging others to watch this “must see” event on HBO.
Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire are two fighters who truly deserve this kind of attention.
O T H E R H A P P E N I N G S
Most boxing fans who bought the Pac/Margo PPV were treated to an unexpected war of attrition on the undercard between Jesus Soto Karass and Mike Jones. This Saturday, the hard headed Mexican fighter gets a chance to rectify a majority decision loss, which most felt he won, when he rematches the “fortunate to be undefeated” American prospect, Mike Jones. I think Jones learned, during their first bout, that Jesus cannot be bombed out in round number one. I don’t think M.J. is foolish enough to try again. I think Jones will elect to fight a more tactical fight and should win an easy majority decision this Saturday night. Then again, maybe he is foolish enough to try it again…more reason to tune in to HBO this Saturday!!
Tonight on “the best show on TV”, Friday Night Fights, undefeated Welterweight Shawn Porter faces Anges Adjaho on ESPN’s very first FNF 3D broadcast. If you’re fortunate enough to have the goggles, the TV, the cable box, and ESPN 3D, the telecast should be a real treat. I would really appreciate it if someone, who is fortunate enough to see this, would shoot me an email to let me know whether or not it is a worthy investment. Thanks, in advance!!
In other action, Felix Sturm will be facing American middleweight prospect Ronald Hearns this Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany. Ronald, who has 26 wins and only 1 loss, attempts to become the new WBA Middleweight Champion. Hearns comes into the bout, on average, as a 3:1 underdog, but he does possess knockout power and has 20 KOs under his belt. If “The Chosen One” does find a way to pull off the upset in Germany, it will more than likely have to come by way of knockout. Good luck, brother…you’ll need it in Deutschland!!
By the way, as a follow up of my previous article on ESB, David Rodriguez hammered Matt Hicks in two rounds to earn his 32nd win by way of knockout, improving his record to 34-0. I will keep an eye on “El Nino’s” career and keep you guys posted. Hopefully he can put some quality fighters on his resume this year. He has been brutally attacked by skeptics in the boxing media and deserves more of a fair shake than he has received. Good luck, Dave!!
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