By Gerardo Granados: Next Saturday 19th Nonito Donaire will battle against the most dangerous rival in his boxing career, he will fight against Mexican boxing great and three divisions champion Fernando Montiel. Nonito has never been against such a great boxer and this is by far the most difficult adversary in the bantamweight division, but is it possible that if victorious he can become the next boxing star?

Fernando Montiel has engaged against better competition than Donaire has and he is still in his prime, physically he is at the top of his boxing skills, he is an overall great fighter, great chin, great power, good defense, mobility and footwork; “Ko-chulito” is the current WBC – WBO bantamweight champion, former WBO super flyweight and WBO flyweight champion, has a title fights record of T 19 – W 17 (13) L 2 (0) – D 0. But is Montiel a boxing star yet?
Nonito Donaire: age 28 / orthodox / height 5´6”, reach 68” / T 26 – W 25 (17) – L 1 (0) – D 0.

Notables: Ilido Julio (IBO super fly / 2*), Vic Darchinyan (IBO bantam, WBC – WBA Super World – IBF – IBO super fly, IBF – IBO fly / 17 *), Moruti Mthalane (IBF fly / 3*), Volodymyr Sydorenko (WBA World bantam / 9*).

Fernando Montiel: age 31 / orthodox / height 5´4”, reach 66 ½” / T 48 – W 44 (34) – L 2 (0) – D 2.

Notables: Cruz Carvajal (WBO Bantam / 5*), Isidro Garcia (WBO fly / 4*), Juan Domingo Cordoba (WBO light fly / 5*), Jose Lopez (WBO super fly / 6*), Pedro Alcazar (WBO super fly / 3*), Ruben Sanchez (WBO fly / 3*), Mark Johnson (L MD12 / IBF fly, IBF – WBO super fly / 14*), Ivan Hernandez (WBO super fly / 5*), Jhonny Gonzalez (L SD12 / IBO feather, WBO bantam / 7*), Martin Castillo (WBA World super fly / 7*), Juan Alberto Rosas (IBF super fly / 2*), Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC feather, WBC bantam / 13*).

Nonito defeated Vic Darchinyan and that might be the only top fighter that he has defeated to the date, he is the former IBF – IBO flyweight champion, he is a promising fighter, he has great power and speed but his defense is quite raw; he has height and reach advantage against Montiel but will he be capable to exploit it? He is young and has reached his physical peak but he has not defeated many great fighters yet to consider him as the second coming of Philippine Manny Pacquiao. Donaire is a good fighter, he is not as skilled as Floyd Mayweather or Sugar Ray Leonard, and he is not even as skilled or experienced as Montiel is, but is it possible for him to achieve boxing stardom just by defeating Fernando Montiel?

It is not a secret that the greatest boxing stars have always had great promoters behind them. This fight might not be as good as the Meldrick Taylor vs. Julio Cesar Chavez fight, but it certainly will be one that no one should miss. The winner will certainly move on to bigger things and the loser might end up wondering what would had happened if he had won. This is the key fight for both fighters to secure their boxing career and both will do anything to achieve victory, kill or die for both men, so one thing is guaranteed: there will be blood.