By Francisco Hernandez: Nonito Donaire may be regretting having finally decided to sign the fight with Fernando Montiel. When Fernando Montiel fought champion Hozumi Hasegawa, the Japanese press considered this to be one of the most important fights in Japanese boxing history, if Hasegawa was victorious against Montiel, Hasegawa they said would be considered the greatest boxing champion in the history of Japan. This was not to be, as Montiel quickly finished off Hasegawa, the referee had to intervene to pull off Montiel from a defenseless Hazegawa who was clearly knocked out on his feet. Before fighting Montiel, Hazegawa had scored five TKOs in a row. The difference in that fight was that Montiel is not a TKO fighter but a KO slugger with a killer instinct to finish off wounded fighters.

Currently Montiel has around 17 KOs; I am not even taking into account his TKOs. Nonito Donaire only has a few KOs (6). Casual fans usually don’t take into account the difference between a TKO and a KO, an abundance of KOs indicates someone with truly lethal fists. If these figures tell us anything it is that Donaire will not be able to hurt Montiel with a single punch, while Montiel has the power to do so. Another problem for Donaire is that he may not be able to defend effectively against the body punching of Montiel. Donaire is the taller fighter at five foot six inches which makes him more vulnerable to Montiel’s blistering body shots for which he is famous. Fernando Montiel may take out Donaire like he took out Filipino fighter Ciso Morales with a killer left hook to the body in the first round of their fight in February of 2010.

The current myth is that Donaire is a great boxer, he isn’t to me, I believe that most of his ability to be a slick boxer comes from the fact that he towers over his smaller opponents. The illusion is created when he fights smaller men most of which can’t box worth a lick and don’t have the power to hurt him. Anyone can be a great boxer against opponents who cannot threaten you because they are so smaller than you, but try to be slick when the punches that are flying at you can really take your head off, and suddenly it’s not so easy to show off.

In his fight with Rafael Concepcion, Donaire was exposed, he was hit squarely countless of times by the Panamanian. Concepcion even knocked down Donaire with a punch, but the cunning referee called it a slip. If Rafael Concepcion can hit him, Montiel will hit him more easily, but the difference is that Donaire will not be able to shake off Montiel’s punches, Montiel has the power to counter Donaire’s big size. The only option for Donaire is to pedal around the ring and take pot shots at Montiel. This tactic will backfire for Donaire who will be on wobbly legs in the later rounds and will make him more vulnerable to a knockout.

This fight should crown Fernando Montiel’s brilliant career as a fighter, and it should test Nonito Donaire’s boxing abilities: was he simply too big physically for his past opponents or is he really a great boxer, we will certainly find out soon.