By Dan Ambrose: Losing to Nonito Donaire (26-1, 18 KO’s) wounded WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel’s pride more than the pain from having his right cheekbone fractured by Donaire’s powerful left hand that knocked him flat in the 2nd round.

In an article at examiner.com, Montiel said “It has hurt my pride the most. I sacrificed a lot in training, but people know boxing like that. You have to live through the good times and the bad.”

Indeed, Montiel, before his loss to Donaire, had beaten fighters like Hozumi Hasegawa, Martin Castillo, Reynaldo Hurtado and Z Gorres. But it was Montiel’s turn for him to lose. He just didn’t seem ready for the kind of power and speed that Donaire was showing him last Saturday night. Montiel needed more of a game plan because it was painfully obvious in the 1st round that Donaire was too fast for him. Montiel needed to set traps more and not just look to punch with the quicker Donaire.

Montiel is going to meeting with his promoter to see what direction to take. The chances of a rematch with Donaire aren’t very good because of how one-sided the fight was. Montiel says he wants to move up to super bantamweight. He might do well at that weight, but he’s not going to get another chance at Donaire unless he’s willing to keep moving up in weight from division to division to try and get another fight with him. At 5’4″, it’s doubtful that Montiel will have the size to go beyond the super bantamweight division without taking more losses.