ShareThisPANAMA CITY (PhilAmPress) — Bantamweight champion of the Boxing World Association (BWA) Panamanian Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno said that he is not afraid of Philippines Nonito Donaire and that he is ready to fight against him.
Donaire
“With the ability I have to escape hits and with the excellent training I have, I would become a Floyd Mayweather in front of Nonito Donaire. I assure you that it would be very difficult to hit me,” Moreno told sports section 10 Deportivo of El Panama America daily.
On Sunday, Donaire knocked out Mexican Fernando “Kochulito” Montiel in Las Vegas, United States, winning the titles of the World Box Council and of the World Box Organization.
Moreno said that he began boxing to fight against the best one and that he only requests Donaire to give him the opportunity to show who is the best bantamweight of the world.
Donaire, 28,, has a record of 26-1-18 knockouts and Moreno, 25, has a record of 30-1-10 knockouts.
The Filipino American Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. of San Francisco Bay Area and General Santos City in Mindanao lived up to his name as he defeated Mexican champion Fernando Montiel in a flash in their fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on February 19.
The former American amateur boxing ace from San Leandro in the Bay Area won the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight championship belts as he floored Montiel in only two rounds, lifting the spirit of Filipinos who are battered by scandals.
Donaire’s record win catapulted him to the third rank from fifth in the Ring Magazine world pound-for-pound list behind world boxing king Manny Pacquiao and American champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao immediately congratulated Donaire who is considered as his heir apparent. Other Philippine leaders also hailed Donaire for his victory.
Donaire overtook middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina and world lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez. Martinez dropped to No. 4 and Marquez to No. 5.
Donaire savored his victory a day after the fight with the blessing of a new condominium unit in Las Vegas.
Donaire is expected to get a hero’s welcome when he arrives in Manila. He is also expected to call on President Benigno S. Aquino III who was delighted by the win.
Donaire knocked Montiel down with a wicked left hook and a follow-up right, stopping the great Mexican at the 2:25 mark of the second round. Montiel later was found to have broken jaw as a result of the stunning left hook and must be treated in a hospital in Mexico.
After being hit with a left hook, Montiel dropped to the canvas and started twitching. Incredibly, referee Russell Mora allowed him to continue but stopped the fight after Donaire landed two more punches on the visibly dazed Montiel.
Another Filipino, Mark Jason Melligen won by unanimous decision in the under card against Mexican boxer Gabriel Martinez.
Melligen, 24, is originally from Bacolod City and now resides in Los Angeles, California.
“I had a premonition this would happen. I told my trainer (Robert Garcia) in camp the fight would end in the second round,” said Donaire, 31, after his victory, his most impressive since beating Australian Vic Darchinyan for the world 112-pound crown in 2007.
”I want to make a statement in this division and to the bigger guys that I’m going up there. I just did what I have to do. I respect Fernando Montiel. I was motivated for this fight,” Donaire said.
With the victory, the 28-year-old new WBC and WBO king improved his ring record to 26-1 with 18 knockouts while handing Montiel his third defeat in 49 fights.
Elevated by The Ring magazine to the world’s 10 pound-for-pound fighter, Donaire is considered as the heir apparent of Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, the world’s current best pound-for-pound boxer who will fight American Shane Mosley in May in Las Vegas.
“I hit him with a left hook and I looked down. I saw his legs twitching and I knew the fight was over,” said Donaire.
Donaire improved his record to 26-1 with 18 knockouts while Montiel slipped to 44-3-2 with 34 knockouts. Montiel also dropped from number one to number 5 in the bantamweight division.
The scheduled 12-round fight saw Donaire coming out firing, connecting with jabs and left hooks to Montiel’s body. Donaire caught Montiel with a right straight to the face, sending the Mexican reeling.
Montiel somehow came alive in the second, connecting with a right uppercut, a left hook to Donaire’s tummy and left and right combinations. But Donaire, proving he’s got the punching power, countered with a left hook that floored the Mexican.
“I know that we both had the power to knock each other out, but I made the first mistake and I paid for it,” said Montiel, who was brought to the University Medical Center trauma unit for precautionary treatment.
Donaire, clad in red trunks, climbed the ring ahead of Montiel, wearing white, and looked very determined while the former 118-pound kingpin appeared tense during the pre-match instructions of the referee.
Both easily made the bantamweight limit on the eve of the fight. Donaire, younger by three years, had a three-inch edge in height at 5-foot-7 and reach 58 to 57 inches.
Under the terms of the fight, Montiel is assured of a rematch but the overwhelming win gave Donaire the chance to unify the 118-pound division. His next opponent could be the winner of an April 23 match between unbeaten 25-year-old Mexican-born IBO and WBC silver belt king Abner Mares of Montebello, California, and Africa’s 30-year-old two-time IBF champion Joseph Agbeko.
Also waiting in the wings is WBA bantamweight king Artemio Moreno of Panama, a 25-year-old southpaw who has a Feb. 26 defense against 32-year-old Lorenzo Parra of Venezuela.