By Dave Lahr: Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KO’s) is coming into his February 19th fight against WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (44-2-2, 34 KO’s) as the favorite to win when they battle at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We’re going to get a chance to learn about Donaire, and how he reacts when he’s getting hit with power shots that reduce most of Montiel’s opponents to jelly. I’ve always thought that Donaire can dish it out but he can’t take it. I think my theory is going to be correct on February 19th when Montiel starts putting a hurting on Donaire.
You can tell a lot about how Donaire is going to react to Montiel’s huge shots by looking Donaire’s reaction in past fights when getting hammered. He doesn’t like it. Donaire backs away and needs to regroup when he’s hit hard or stung. He’s been fortunate the guys that Bob Arum has been feeding him have been limited opponents, ones that are missing key ingredients in their game.
Donaire’s last opponent Wladimir Sidorenko came into the fight having lost two out of his last three fights and had no power to speak of. It was the perfect set up fight for Donaire to get an easy win and make it seem as if he’s better than he actually is. Donaire won’t be facing a weak puncher with Montiel, and it’s going to be a rude awakening for him when he starts tasting Montiel’s huge shots.
He’s going to be like a fish out of water, not knowing how to react, and what to do. This is why it’s important fighters to be matched hard instead of being spoon fed easy opponents. Donaire is going get blasted around the ring and I can’t see this fight lasting long at all.
Comments are closed.