By Dave Lahr: WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (44-2-2, 34 KO’s) believes that he’s got the same speed and talent that challenger Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KO’s) has going for him in their fight on February 19th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Montiel wonders how Donaire will react now that he’s finally facing someone with the same speed and talent as him. Montiel likes his chances in this match-up, and I can’t blame him. Montiel has the power advantage and Donaire hates getting hit.

In a recent interview at fightnews.com, Montiel said “He’s obviously a fighter with a lot of speed and is very intelligent. My question is what happens when he faces a guy who is just as good as he is. This is the first time he’ll face someone just as fast and intelligent as he is.”

Montiel left out ‘with even more power than Donaire.’ Yes, what will Donaire do when he sees early on that he’s fighting someone with the same speed, same intelligence but someone with much more power and someone that doesn’t shy away from getting hit. It’s going to be ugly. Montiel is going to be taking the fight to Donaire, and we’re likely going to be watching a cat chasing a mouse around the ring all night long, trying to corner him to land his big power shots. This is going to be a replay of Rafael Concepcion vs. Donaire, except in this case, Montiel is going to finally catch up to the constant fleeing Donaire and lay him out in front of a full packed Mandalay Bay arena.