Odds favor Donaire vs Montiel

MANILA, Philippines - Nonito Donaire is too good in the eyes of the oddsmakers he’s been installed as the early favorite in his Feb. 19 fight with Fernando Montiel.

The Mexican champion, however, said he doesn’t mind being tagged as the underdog, and called on the betting public to put their money on him.

“Bet on me and get ready to make money,” said Montiel, who will stake his WBC and WBO bantamweight crown against the hard-hitting Filipino.

The fight is set at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

And with more than a month left, Donaire, long been looking for a fight as big as this one, stood as the -205 favorite, meaning you need $200 to win a hundred bucks.

Montiel, the seasoned world champion, is at +180, meaning a hundred bucks wins $180. Again, the 31-year-old Mexican (43-2-2) said will have the last laugh on fight night.

“I’m not worried about Nonito being the favorite. This is the fight I am looking for. It’s the type of fight that motivates me,” he said in an article that came out of The Examiner yesterday.

There’s so much respect between both fights that in yesterday’s press conference in Sin City they appeared to be smiling at each other, fooling around during their face-off.

But it will all change when they meet on top of the ring.

“I have great respect for Donaire and his family. I have much respect outside of the ring but inside of the ring I have no respect and it won’t last 36 minutes,” Montiel said.

There was nothing much from Donaire.

“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,” he told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.