Nonito Donaire Stops Fernando Montiel in 2

Nonito Donaire stops Fernando Montiel in the
second round Saturday night

By Randy De La O


Nonito Donaire did his best, this past Saturday, to make his case for being the number one Filipino fighter in the world, as well as solidifying his pound for pound ranking and he just might have stolen some of Manny Pacquiao's fans in the process. He beat a respectably good champion in Fernando Montiel, who had lost only twice in his career and has to be considered a fighter still in his prime before the match.

You could tell right from the start that Donaire was the quicker,sharper puncher. Montiel had his chin up and his hands low. After throwing a right hand and bringing it back way too low, Doniare caught him with a counter left hook. Montiel's legs were flailing. I don't know why the referee, Russell Mora, let it go on. Montiel a game fighter, for sure, got up from what appeared to be a devastating knockout and took a few more needless shots to the head. The light was already out.

My friend, retired Southland Sportswriter Bill O'Neill had this to say about Donaire: "All I can say is, Wow! His starching of Montiel is proof enough that his one-punch knockout of Vic Darchinyan a few years back was no fluke. It is rare to see a very good and deserving world champion get laid out like that. Darchinyan, you may recall, is a bully-boy in the mold of Jake LaMotta: just walking through good fighters, beating them up and beating them down. (One of the guys he beat on was Nonito's older brother, Glen Donaire--a very good fighter in his own right.) And Donaire put him down and out with one shot, just as he did Montiel.

I'm not quite ready to place the Filipino Flash (as Donaire is called) ahead of Terry McGovern, Manuel Ortiz, Ruben Olivares, and Eder Jofre just yet--but believe me, anyone his weight that he hits with that left hook is goin' down! One-shot knockout punchers come along only once every 20 years--if that often. And this kid has that kind of shocking power."


I couldn't agree more Donaire seems to be the real deal.

Saul Alvarez vs Larry Mosley

By: Randy De La O

I only caught one fight from last night's fights at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, in Cabazon, California, and it was a fairly good one.  Unbeaten welterweight prospect Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (22-0-1, 15 KOs)  , of Juanacatlan, Jalisco, Mexico,  won a unanimous ten round decision over Larry Mosley  (15-3-1, 6 KOs) , of Los Angeles, California, who was fighting for only the second time after a two year layoff. Mosley was stopped in the sixth round in June of this year in his fight against Russell Jordan. The fight was scheduled for eight. Despite being a fairly decent boxer, Mosley was probably a safe bet for Alvarez.

Alvarez, an aggresive fighter, fights with an exuberance, confidence  and recklessness that only an undefeated 18 year old can.  Forward moving and strong, he showed lots of potential but made  a few of mistakes. Mainly, he  over reaches when he throws his right hand and is open to a counter uppercut, made all the more dangerous because Alvarez keeps his chin up when he throws his right hand.  The right opponent will take advantage of that. Still he's young and there's time to correct this.

Alvarez  took the fight to Mosley, who had his moments, but just didn't have the punch to capitalize on Alvarez' lack of a solid defense.

Junior Featherweight Antonio Escalante (18-2, 12 KOs) stopped Mike Oliver (21-2, 7 KOs) in 33 seconds of the third round of a scheduled twelve round fight for the NABO title.

Junior welterweight Hector Sanchez (17-0, 7 KOs) knocked out Albert Rodriguz (8-0-1, 4 KOs) in 1:23 seconds of the second round.