Donaire faces biggest challenge

The Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire Jr., faces his biggest challenge to date, facing down Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel for the latter’s two belts: the WBC and WBO world bantamweight titles. Donaire is a close favorite, but faces a vastly experienced fighter who has fought better quality opposition in the last couple of years.

Montiel has been fighting in the vicinity of 118 pounds since 2002, when, as reigning WBO flyweight king, he moved up in weight to challenge Pedro Alcazar for the WBO super flyweight belt in June of that year. The opportunistic Montiel found cracks in Alcazar’s defense and knocked him out in the sixth round. But in a grave tragedy, Alcazar lost his life three months later due to a brain tumor he didn’t know he had. The pride of boxing hotbed Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico has been fighting at the 188-pound limit since then.

Donaire, for his part, jumped to global boxing fame when he dismantled feared IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan in July of 2007. Prior to that bout, Donaire had won 16 bouts in a row, nine by knockout.

Darchinyan was moving up in weight, and was so favored in previous bouts, he had grown arrogant. And just the year prior, the champion had carved out a sixth-round technical decision win over Jun’s older brother, Glenn. That fueled his ego, and he publicly insulted the Donaire family, which incensed the young challenger.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Donaire recalled saying.

The Flash pounded Darchinyan into submission with a resounding fifth round TKO, annexing both IBF and IBO belts. It was an impressive win both for the scalpel-like precision that the young fighter showed, as well as the killer instinct. Darchinyan has since had problems with Filipino fighters.

However, since then, the road to higher altitude has been pockmarked for the Pinoy champ. There have been delays, aborted bouts, and conflicts with his father, which have all been overcome. Since the Darchinyan fight, Donaire knocked out five of his next six opponents, although some were not the ideal fighters to challenge someone of his skill. Having trouble with the weight, the tall Bohol native moved up to bantamweight to snatch the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight crown from Volodymyr Sydorenko. More comfortable with the new limit, Donaire blitzkrieged the champion into the canvas in the fourth round.

Donaire will be fighting without any distractions for the first time in a while. He’s happily married, is enjoying being an amateur photographer (he was at courtside at the Araneta Coliseum for last year’s NBA Asia Challenge), and is relaxed with the weight. There was some fear that he would have trouble making the weigh limit for the fight, but it’s really no big deal. Donaire’s full focus is on the fight he’s been waiting for two years, and he knows this kind of opportunity does not come often.

Against Montiel, Donaire will need his full arsenal. Montiel has been up against topflight competition in the last three years, winning impressively, knocking out his last four opponents in rounds 2, 3, 4, and 1, respectively. Montiel has also been trying to deceive the public into believing that Donaire fears him and has been avoiding a confrontation. On the contrary, it has been Montiel who sought a postponement because of injury.

Montiel, for his part, had a lot of problems against a young and raw Z Gorres in Cebu in February of 2007. Gorres was already a good tactical fighter, albeit not that solid in his defense. Cochulito barely escaped with a split decision, and has only fought one other Filipino since then. Montiel battered Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales in a one-round TKO for the WBO bantamweight title. Montiel was, at the time, the interim champion.

Montiel is just another member of the boxing community who does not respect the Filipino’s talent. Even the most authoritative boxing publications and ratings do not give Donaire his due. He’s not considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today, despite the fact that he has won his last 24 bouts, 16 by KO. He isn’t considered one of the top bantamweights or flyweights. It’s probably because his fights aren’t attention-getting as those of Manny Pacquiao. And this weekend, his world title bout shares the sports pages with the NBA All-Star Weekend.

What will Donaire have to do against Montiel? Montiel is crafty, but temperamental inside the ring. Donaire will be able to use his height and reach advantage. Montiel has problems with fighters with effective jabs, and Donaire has a stinging one. Donaire will be a difficult target to hit, and his size will make a lot of difference. Fighting mainly Mexicans or other Latin American fighters his size, Montiel will be in unfamiliar territory. And if Donaire switches stances during the fight, the Mexican will definitely be confused.

But make no mistake, Montiel also packs dynamite in those fists. If Donaire gets cocky and starts showboating as he has done in the past, Montiel will deck him. But at this point in their careers, this writer is more confident in Donaire’s ability to take Montiel’s punches than the other way around. Montiel will have to pour it all on, and Donaire’s conditioning will be tested. Given that Montiel’s only gone past the fourth round once in his last nine fights (a 10th-round TKO of Cecilio Santos in 2007), his endurance will be suspect, particularly if he takes a lot of punishment from Donaire, which he will.

The later rounds will be the proving ground for Nonito Donaire’s maturity as a fighter. If he can stick the jab and keep moving, Montiel will wear himself out, and will be ripe for a late-round stoppage. If Donaire concentrates on getting the job done and minimizing the displays of showmanship, he will take home both championship belts to add to his growing collection.