Montiel

Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire forced Fernando Montiel to blink first in a battle of pound for pound bombers and captured the WBC and WBO bantamweight world titles in shocking finality with a knock out on Saturday. 

Las Vegas saw one of the best bantamweight match ups in years as Donaire (26-1, 18 KOs) electrified the crowd with a one-punch knockout of Mexico’s Montiel (44-3-2, 34 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. 

Both had predicted a knock out and their prediction was certified by Donaire’s check left hook. 

Donaire set the pace with some leaping lefts and rights that caught Mexico’s Montiel blinking from the suddenness of the blows. Every time the Mexican speedster tried a counter it was beaten by Donaire. The lanky Filipino from San Leandro won the first round from the outside convincingly. 

“I wanted to see how his body was,” Donaire said. 

Montiel’s corner held a short conference before the second round. The Mexican champion looked to press forward and closer with feints, head movement and jabs. Donaire readjusted his bomb sights, stopped lunging in and slipped into a counter-punch mode as he watched the clever Mexican boxer become more aggressive. 

It was a bad idea. 

Montiel fired a right through Donaire’s gloves, but was wide open for the counter left hook. The impact from that single punch sent Montiel to the canvas with his legs struggling to move while on his back. Referee Russell Mora began the count and Montiel rolled around and suddenly leaped up to beat the count. Though seemingly steady, Montiel seemed dazed and confused as Donaire leaped in for the kill and busted a right and left that forced the referee to stop the fight at 2:25 of the second round. 

“I knew exactly what was going to happen and where he was going to be at,” Donaire said. 

Donaire grabs the WBO and WBC bantamweight world titles. 

“I just came out there believing in this talent God has given me,” said Donaire, who is a former flyweight world champion. “I predicted this eight months ago.” 

The new champion indicted again that he would like to be the unified bantamweight world champion perhaps signifying that he will fight the winner of Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares in April. 

Welters 

It was a rematch between skill and will and skill won as Mike Jones (24-0, 18 KOs) used his footwork, jab, crisp combinations and strategy to beat the Los Mochis fighter Jesus Soto Karass (24-6-3, 16 KOs) by unanimous decision. 

Unlike the first fight, Jones didn’t blow his load trying to knock out the stone chin of Soto Karass. He had never fought a Mexican before especially one from Los Mochis, and learned from their first fight that guys from that region are known for taking a punch. 

Boy did he learn. 

Jones used the jab like a rapier and kept circling left all night long. It was plan A and it worked to near perfection as Soto Karass never cut off the ring and allowed the Philadelphia boxer to stick to game room strategy. 

Mexico’s Soto Karass worked the body continuously and was intent on firing punches in-between Jones punches. It worked but he never had an answer for those jabs that kept winning points for Jones. 

Round and round it went with Jones hit and moving and Soto Karass pressing to attack and not finding enough moments to take advantage of his body attack. Then, ironically, Jones pressed the attack to the Mexican fighter’s body and that seemed to slow down Soto Karass even more. 

Of course Soto Karass was not about to give in, despite various moments in between rounds when doctors, his trainer and the referee offered him to take a stool, he was not about to surrender. 

Jones kept boxing adeptly absorbing a shot here and there but more often jabbed, sliced right hands and uppercuts in convincing the judges he was the clear winner 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111.