In less than six hours WBC and WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel and former flyweight champion Nonito Donaire will both participate in an open media workout at the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada in advance of their HBO-televised clash this Saturday night. Montiel was actually able to sweep into the gym unnoticed last night, at least by most individuals, and he participated in a workout of his own inside the facility.
Juan Perez, who oversees duties at the gym, told me the facility is no longer open to the public because their was too much drama taking place inside the building between various cohorts from the boxing world in recent times. The facility has hosted some of boxing’s biggest stars over the years and is now used for only special occasions.
<--- Slideshow: Fernando Montiel looking ripped and focused at the Top Rank Gym
You can consider Montiel-Donaire that exact kind of event.
Montiel sports a 44-2-2 record with 34 knockouts and is coming off of a renaissance year in 2010 in which he went 4-0, all knockouts, while also scoring a huge upset over Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan. Well-traveled photographer Rafael Soto was on hand to witness Montiel in training last night and he definitely looks shredded and ready for battle with the fight just a few odd days away.
In Donaire he will be going up against one of the sport’s rising talents, a man with much acumen, speed, power, and unorthodoxy. Donaire put in some rigorous work for this contest at the Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos, California and is priming himself for the fight of his life.
Expect more from Montiel and Donaire later today…
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
