At the end of 2009 Fernando Montiel was a fighter with much to prove. In September of that year the Los Mochis fighter appeared to be lucky to escape with a technical draw against Alejandro Valdez in a bout in which he was cut early with a punch and later dropped in the second round while being subsequently battered around the ring. The fight was stopped to due to the severity of Montiel?s gash and the decision was first ruled to a technical draw, later changed to a Valdez victory and again changed back to a technical draw.
Speaking in Las Vegas in January in advance of the Pinoy Power 3/Latin Fury 13 card he was to be a part of, Montiel let it be known that he planned to fully redeem himself after the Valdez debacle and sure enough, his 2010 crusade has been extremely solid. Montiel has reeled off four victories, all by knockout, with none of them being bigger than his April 30th upset over then WBC champion Hozumi Hasegawa in which he landed a beautiful land hand and followed it up with a volley of punches to force a referee?s stoppage.
Montiel is now in line for a completely different kind of challenge as he is scheduled to face off with former flyweight champion Nonito Donaire on February 19th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a mouthwatering bout on paper, but one that wouldn?t have possible if not for the career resurrection from Montiel.
To see the images that have defined the 31-year old?s year please continue on to the slideshow for Montiel?s story in pictures?
