SENSATIONAL
What up Doug-E,
Nonito Donaire was sensational. That?s what it?s all about. He started the game plan with leading and being first, understood the trajectory of Fernando Montiel?s punches, drew the right hand, perfect left hook counter.
So how would you rate the chances of the Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko winner against ?the Flash??
Good scrap with Mike Jones/Jesus Soto-Karass, but some really bad footwork from both of them. Soto-Karass steps with his left foot first when moving right. Completely unacceptable, no wonder why he can?t cut off the ring. However, mad props for his heart and courage. Who would you like to see Jones in with soon? Peace from Detroit. — Steve
?Sensational? is the best word to describe Donaire?s talent and his last two performances. He looked like a 118-pound juggernaut bludgeoning Wladimir Sidorenko in December, and against Montiel he looked liked the top-five pound-for-pound player THE RING had prematurely (in my opinion) rated him. Obviously, I don?t think that high P4P ranking is unwarranted after Saturday?s breath-taking KO of an elite-level veteran.
And you?re absolutely right about Donaire setting up that beautifully brutal left hook that scrambled Montiel?s neurons.
How do I rate Donaire?s chances against the winner of Showtime?s bantamweight tournament? I have the utmost respect for both Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares, but come on, man, what do you think!?
I favored Donaire against any active 118-pound fighter in the world prior to the Montiel fight (hell, even before the Sidorenko fight — and I?m on record stating this opinion on more than a few video interviews posted on Youtube, so don?t think I?m jumping on the bandwagon), so obviously, after what he did poor ?Cochulito,? I would confidently pick the Filipino Flash against the Agbeko-Mares winner or Anselmo Moreno or any other world-class bantamweight.
I thought the Jones-Soto-Karass rematch was a decent scrap between two ?decent? welterweights. In other words, their two fights didn?t invoke memories of Simon Brown-Tyrone Trice I and II for Yours Truly. You?re correct once again in your technical observations — Jones has shaky footwork and Soto-Karass has not footwork to speak of.
Russell Peltz, the co-promoter of Jones, told me prior to the rematch that he?d be willing to take his fighter to the UK to challenge British champ Kell Brook. That?s a good fight and I?d love to see it. Jones and Brook, who are close in age and have similar records, possess different strengths that could mesh well in the ring. Jones, a basic/orthodox boxer, is the bigger (and likely stronger) man, but Brook, an unorthodox stylist (from the Brendan Ingle school of boxing in Sheffield) appears to be a faster and more-fluid fighter.
I know Bob Arum, Jones? co-promoter, is beating the drums for a shot at Andre Berto (should Berto beat Victor Ortiz in April), but I don?t think the Philly product is ready for the WBC beltholder.
KNOCKOUTS = SUCCESS
What up man! I’m sure your weekend was full of surprises! I wrote to you on Friday to give my prediction that Montiel didn’t have a chance but DAMN! Couple thoughts.
1) Flash finally deserves to be P4P rated but still not top 5 in my not so humble opinion. Your opinion? 2) How valuable are these knockout finishes for the sport! Especially on premium TV. 3) I really feel bad for Rocky Juarez, the epitome of a underdog who couldn’t quite get there. I hope he’s smart enough to call it quits. 4) Last but not least, I think Kenny Bayless is #1 P4P in refereeing but his decision on Soto-Karass’ cuts basically doomed him from the beginning. Kudos on Russell Mora for allowing the champion to give it a go after he somehow got up and then stopping it immediately when it was obvious he was done.
Hope you enjoyed the weekend, all the best. — Adrian H. Milwaukee, WI
Thanks for writing in Nostradamus, uh, I mean Adrian, and sorry I missed your email on Friday (next time email me by Thursday afternoon so I can include your spot-on predictions in the Friday mailbag).
I?ll answer your points in order:
1) I said numerous times (on record) prior to Saturday?s fight that Donaire would earn his current RING pound-for-pound ranking (No. 5) with an impressive victory over Fernando Montiel and I?m going to stick by that statement. When I send my personal P4P top 10 list to Kevin Iole to include in the Yahoo! Sports boxing rankings I?ll have Donaire at No. 5 behind only Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
2) Shocking knockouts in fights involving elite fighters, such as Martinez?s one-hitter quitter against Paul Williams and Donaire?s brain-scrambling hook against Montiel, always electrify the sport and its fans.
3) I hope Juarez does call it a career, because he?s had a damn good one. He was a world amateur champ and he represented the U.S. in the Olympics (and won a silver medal), he fought the best fighters in his division in the pro ranks, including two future first-ballot hall of famers (I thought he beat Marco Antonio Barrera in their first bout), and he made good money. He never won a major title but he never any sub-par fighters for a belt.
4) I agree.
NO (NITO) EFFING WAY!
Hope all is well in Fischerville.
Damn, that was one brutal a knockout! I have just a few questions/comments regarding Nonito Donaire’s demolition of Fernando Montiel:
1. I’ve admired your guarded enthusiasm to not just automatically rank Donaire among the elite of the sport based upon his past resume. It’s easy to jump on a bandwagon when a fighter shows amazing skill without top level accomplishment. At this point it seems Donaire’s made a clear move into the top 5 pound for pound. Where would you rank him with top level veterans like Pacquiao, Mayweather, Marquez and Martinez? I think all things considered, Nonito’s is probably number 3 right behind Manny and Money. This little guy is a monster and finally proved it in a shocking way against an elite fighter.
2. I wonder if any of Donaire’s possible next opponents (JuanMa, Gamboa, Mares, Moreno or Agbeko) has the style or chops at this point to beat this guy. It seems like the three bantamweights would just be too small and slow for him, and Lopez and Gamboa are both probably a bit too “chinny” to handle the power Nonito would bring. I don’t think I’d dare put money down on any of those five against Nonito.
3. Where does Montiel go from here? There are a lot of good fights still at 118 and he’s only 31, but after 49 fights in what seems like a Hall of Fame career I wonder how much longer he stays in the game. Yes, there is still money to be made, this is only one loss and no way does he want his last career memories to be him twitching on the canvas but I think his next fight (maybe the loser of Mares-Agbeko) will tell us home much this little guy has left. It wouldn’t surprise me if this fight is the beginning of the end for his impressive career.
Keep up the top notch work. — Charles, Ogden, Utah
Thanks for writing in, Charles. All is well in Fischerville. I?ll answer your questions in order:
1) Based on Saturday?s performance, I rank Donaire right behind the P4P Fab Four you mentioned. In terms of potential and sheer talent, he?s right up there with the Dynamic Duo of Manny and Floyd, but he hasn?t paid enough dues to unseat Martinez and Marquez. Montiel is only the second elite fighter Donaire has faced (Vic Darchinyan was the first). The Filipino Flash was awesome in the manner in which he dispatched those two, however, more than three years transpired between those spectacular performances. One can certainly argue that Donaire belongs at No. 3, but I think the older fighters are still more battle tested at the elite level. Hopefully, Donaire will make up for lost time and only fight elite fighter from here on out, which leads us to your next question?
2) I think Donaire dominates at 118 pounds. I won?t pick against him at bantamweight. I favor him against most but not all 122 pounders. Toshiaki Nishioka is a tough outing for anyone and Guillermo Rigondeaux can make any fighter — even one as talented as Donaire — look bad. I believe Donaire will finally be challenged at featherweight. I think Lopez and Gamboa can hurt him if they can get to his chin (and I think both can). Those are going to be the fights for fans to really look forward to.
3) That?s a good question. Where does Montiel go from here? If he fights again, my guess is that it will be at junior featherweight or featherweight. He?d grown into and quickly out of the 118-pound division over the past two years and he clearly didn?t have an easy time making weight for the Donaire fight (he was at lightweight, 134 pounds, by fight time). I think his best bet is to take a break and comeback against an easy opponent at 122 or 126 pounds and then target one of the Japanese beltholders (Akifumi Shimoda, Nishioka, and Hozumi Hasegawa). A rematch with Hasegawa, who currently holds the WBC featherweight title, would still be a big fight in Japan.
DAAAAAAAAAAMN!
What’s up dude? So far for Montiel B. A. D. Has stood for Bad Ass Defeat! That was a devastating left hook and I don’t know how Fernando rose after that punch! Donaire is a beast, period! Holla back! — Fleetwood
Donarie?s improved technique (under Robert Garcia?s watchful eye) combined with his natural gifts indeed make him a bantamweight monster. I have no idea how Montiel got up after Donaire almost engulfed his left fist inside his big melon head with that killer-hook. That was the most devastating knockdown I?ve ever seen the fallen fighter get up from. In other words, it was the most brutal knockdown that didn?t immediately end the fight.
Montiel has my respect. True, he?s never preformed well in his three appearances on HBO?s Boxing After Dark, but it most be noted that he was never in against a chump. I think Mark ?Too Sharp? Johnson is a hall of famer (he?ll get my vote, anyway). Jhonny Gonzalez was a one-dimensional stalker, but he was huge and he could turn your lights out with one shot. Donaire is Donaire. He?s got Gonzalez?s size and Too Sharp?s talent.
EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE
Wow. Just Wow. What an incredible knockout! The Donaire-Montiel fight Saturday last night made me more excited about the future of boxing than anything for a long while. After that I’d favour Donaire to beat just about anyone up to featherweight, including Gamboa or Lopez (what a fight that would be!!! I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it).
Most exciting is the fact that he seems genuinely eager to fight the Mares-Agbeko winner, I really hope that fight can be made because it would be a fight of the year candidate as long as it lasted longer than last night’s fight did. The brevity of the fight was the only downside really, because it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun, but who am I to reject a devastating knockout like that one?
Hopefully Donaire can deliver more of the same for the rest of what I predict will be a glittering career. Joe T – Birmingham, UK
Yeah, I was hoping for a fight-of-the-year candidate but I?ll take a KO-of-the-year candidate because to do what Donaire did to Montiel means the Filipino Flash is a star in the making. And boxing is in desperate need of young stars, especially humble, affable ones like Donaire, who seems willing and eager to earn his stripes.
Bring on Donaire vs. Agbeko/Mares, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Gamboa and Lopez!
BAY AREA BADASS
Nonito Donaire. Badass. Left Montiel on the floor kicking like a baby in an imaginary crib. WOW! — Ronnie the Conqueror, St. Louis, MO
You have a way with words, Mr. Conqueror.
B.A.D THOUGHTS
Doug,
Well that was certainly a ‘star making’ performance by Donaire. I had mixed feelings going into this fight, I favored Donaire, but the fact that he can be a little unfocused coupled with Montiel’s explosiveness gave me some misgivings. About a minute into the first round any doubts about a Donaire victory quickly vanished. Donaire effectively stripped Montiel of all confidence in the first round. It reminded me of Hearns-Duran or Tyson-Spinks, where Duran and Spinks both came to the horrifying conclusion that their opponents were so much better than them on that night. Donaire’s speed, technique, timing and power were absolute and totally set the tone for the fight. The fact that it ended the way it did was that much more impressive. I was just telling my fiance that “Montiel was turning the momentum in the fight” and then Donaire walked him into a bomb! It was as devastating and impressive as Sergio Martinez’s knockout of Paul Williams. Donaire had the look of a star after his knockout over Darchinyan, but he was moved curiously afterwards and it appeared he wasn’t going to take advantage of that momentum, it’s good to see he finally has…
Minor observations:
– I’m still not impressed with Mike Jones. He reminds me of Michael Grant (minus the weak chin), a lot of athletic ability and physical tools but something is missing. Sotto-Karass is pretty limited and despite having to fight thru two bad cuts, he was able to find Jones on a fairly consistent basis. I think as he steps up in class he’s going to going to get killed.
– I thought Kenny Bayless did a sub-par job, how did he miss all of those accidental headbutts?
– How in the hell did Russell Mora think it was okay to let Montiel continue?!? Montiel looked like he was having a grand-mal seizure on the canvas — jeez that was scary and Montiel could have really gotten hurt. He didn’t even move when the fight continued….
– Floyd Mayweather must have been going crazy as Max Kellerman heaped all of his praise on Donaire-even going as far to suggest he was the second best fighter on the planet. I’m pretty sure Floyd will issue a challenge to Donaire to prove who’s the better fighter, at a catchweight of 150 lbs of course, LOL.
– It?s hard being the son of a living legend… Ronald Hearns should have consulted Marvis Frazier…
– I was excited about Roy Jones joining the B.A.D announcing crew. I used to think he was a really good color analyst and found him to be surprisingly insightful. He wasn’t disappointingly average like Ray Leonard, who in my opinion parroted too much or as stubborn as George Foreman (“Shane Mosley will never be the true welterweight champion until he beats Andrew Lewis”) who would make crazy statements then dig himself into them for the rest of the fight after Merchant would call him out on what he said. I’m beginning to think all of the beatings he has recently taken are now effecting his sanity… he gave Mike Jones an A-plus for his defensive work!?! and what is with all the Christian-Faith and religious references? It was totally bizarre… Ironically, I think his old rival Antonio Tarver is the best fighter-turned commentator now…
– Finally, you had to love Bob Arum ripping HBO for making the Berto-Ortiz contest, instead of matching Berto with the winner of Jones-Sotto Karaas. This from the guy who is matching Manny Pacquiao, the best fighter in the world, against the zombified remains of Shane Mosley. He’s so worried about Berto being protected? Well he should have chosen him as Pacquiao’s opponent. Sure Berto would have probably gotten smoked, but at least Manny would have been in with a guy who wasn’t A) coming off a career changing knockout loss B) was still at or approaching his prime… the idea that Mosley has a chance because of styles in this fight is insulting. If Floyd Mayweather had more killer instinct in him he would have stopped Mosley. Pacquiao is more aggressive and throws a lot more punches than Maywether. How is this good for Shane? Maybe if he didn’t display the signs of a guy who just can’t pull the trigger anymore. Mosley is going to lose every second of every round until he gets stopped. — Tom G.
Hearns-Duran and Tyson-Spinks are apt comparison?s what we witnessed on Saturday.
I?ll give my observations to your ?minor? observations in the order you presented them:
– I was impressed with the controlled manner Jones boxed against Soto-Karass. He stayed cool under fire, paced himself and did just enough to win the majority of rounds against a determined card-carrying tough guy. However, I not impressed with Jones as a prospect/contender. He can stick and move, but damn, he doesn?t look comfortable doing it, does he? And he wasn?t into the idea of going toe-to-toe with his Mexican antagonist, either. If Soto-Karass had any talent (apart from taking a good shot), Jones would have been in trouble. I?m not a big Berto fan but I think he would outbox and punish Jones.
– Mr. Bayless is one of my favorite referees, and I think he?s one of the best, but I thought he was on Soto-Karass? case a little too much.
– Mora should told Montiel to take a few steps forward after the brave veteran somehow got up. He was operating on instincts alone and would have stumbled had Mora asked him to come to him. Then Mora could have waved it off without Montiel taking another shot. Of course, all of this is crystal clear after the fight. I know it?s gotta be hard to make the right call during the fight because things happen so damn fast.
– I seriously doubt that Mayweather was watching that HBO broadcast. If your boy did challenge Donaire, he wouldn?t just set a 150-pound, he?d purposely come in a few pounds over.
– Ronald should have consulted Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. And that?s the way he should have been moved. Forget a world title. His goal from day one should have been a showdown with Chavez Jr. In fact, he should have been fighting the same Midwestern stiff Junior feasted on for years, fighting only in Detroit and Auburn Hills, Mich., until he regularly drew 10,000. Oh well.
– Roy?s always been a God-fearing country boy. Now that his ego has been taken down a few pegs you?ll hear him praise Jesus a lot more on air. He gave Jones an A-plus because he wanted to be nice and encouraging to a kid who was having to dig down a bit. Roy isn?t perfect but I still like his commentary. I agree that Tarver is the best active boxer-commentator.
– Arum is going to diss Berto-Ortiz because A) he?s lobbying for the fighter he co-promotes (Jones), which is fine, B) because Ortiz left his company for Golden Boy, and C) because Berto is managed by Al Haymon, so he?s got his hate on for both fighters. It?s no big deal, really. We all know Bob?s a crotchety old hater. However, he?s mad genius when it comes to promotion. Everything you said about Pacquiao-Mosley is true, but that PPV event will probably do between 1.4 and 1.8 buys.
OVER IN A FLASH
Wow! That’s all I can really say Dougie. I did something I’ll never do again Saturday night, doubt a guy involved with Victor Conte. In short, I followed your pre-fight prediction and felt that Nonito’s height and reach would be a deciding factor as all other things seemed either equal, or cancelled each other out on paper. But once I saw the weigh-in photos, I was swayed towards Fernando Montiel. The little guy looked absolutely shredded. Knowing his lethal left hand and somehow thinking that perhaps family issues got to Nonito, I felt Montiel was perhaps better prepared. Silly me. That left hook was not only devastating, but planned, calculated as a counter shot, perfectly timed and delivered flush. Just incredible!
The Filipino Flash has earned his once pre-ordained Ring P4P spot in my book. If he beats the winner of Mares vs Agbeko, where do you rate him P4P? — Joseph
If Donaire beats the Agbeko-Mares winner (particularly in his next fight) he might bump Martinez or Marquez on my P4P list. It would depend on the manner in which he beats the Showtime tournament winner and also how Martinez (slated to face undefeated technician Sergei Dzinziruk next month) and Marquez (nothing scheduled) look in their next fights.
Feel free to go against my predictions, but don?t go against Conte. I think his fighter roster is about to increase dramatically.
WHERE NEXT FOR DONAIRE?
Hi Doug, I knew Donaire had some seriously scary power but wow! After that I think he needs to go to straight featherweight which isn’t likely, but I am not sure if JuanMa and Gamboa could hold up against that kind of power and speed hopefully we will eventually get to see. Where do you see Donaire go from here and against who after that performance? Cheers mate. — Nicholas
I think Donaire will target the Agbeko-Mares winner then jump to 122 pounds to face the Vazquez Jr.-Arce winner (which will likely be Vazquez), and then go after either Gamboa or Lopez. If he wins all of those matchups (especially if he does so in impressive fashion) he may wind up the sport?s new pound-for-pound king.
