Can Fernando Montiel Knock Out Eric Morel?
One of the most anticipated fights of the summer will happen later this month when Fernando Montiel puts his WBC and WBO bantamweight title on the line against interim WBO bantamweight champion Eric Morel. It’s a meeting of two of the best bantamweights in the world and promises to be another entry in the running feud between Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters.
It’s also another chance for Montiel (41-2-2, 31 KOs) to establish himself as one of the premier pound-for-pound boxers in boxing. He’s won world titles in his last two fights, having knocked out Ciso Morales in the first round to win the WBO bantamweight title on February 13 and then stopping Hozumi Hasegawa on April 30 for the WBC title in the fourth round. Taken together, perhaps no fighter in the sport has put together a more impressive display of power in 2010 as Montiel.
He won’t have it easy against Morel (42-2, 21 KOs). The Puerto Rican-born Morel moved to Wisconsin as a youth and established himself as one of the most talented amateur fighters in the country. He won the 1994 Golden Gloves title as a junior flyweight and went on to represent the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to eventual gold medallist Maikro Romero of Cuba. Morel won his first 33 bouts as a professional, including claiming the WBA flyweight title by beating Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym in 2000.
Morel is a spirited boxer who understands the fight game and knows how to manage a bout. He’s also 34 years old – three years older than Montiel. This might be Morel’s last chance to earn a world title and you can expect that he’ll be extremely motivated to pull off an upset against Montiel. He’s also won his last seven fights since returning to the ring in 2008 after a three-year absence from the sport while serving a conviction for sexual assault.
While Morel is a savvy and technically sound boxer, he’s likely in for an uphill battle against Montiel. The 31-year-old Montiel is the complete package as a boxer, having power along with athletic ability and smarts. Although he’s not blessed with tremendous one-punch power, he’s stopped the majority of his opponents short of the distance. This is because he is extremely accurate and possesses a high work rate. If Montiel can’t stop fighters with one punch, he’ll overwhelm him with blow after blow.
Will this be the case against Morel? It first glance, it’s tough to imagine. After all, Morel has never been stopped short of the distance. However, that isn’t to say that Morel hasn’t been badly hurt in the past. He was knocked down three times before staging a remarkable comeback to beat Ysaias Zamudio with a seventh round stoppage in 1999. He was also knocked down in the third round by Lorenzo Parra before losing a unanimous decision in 2003 when he dropped his WBA flyweight title.
While Morel earned his title shot by beating Gerry Penalosa on February 13, he was hardly overwhelming. Many people would have expected that Morel would have easily handled Penalosa, that wasn’t the case. Morel won a split decision victory but did so in controversial fashion, with many observers feeling like Penalosa lost the fight.
Montiel is on the top of his game while Morel might be on the downside of his career. However, Montiel is also fighting for the third time in six months, and that level of training for fights (along with the bouts) has to take its toll. Morel is a gifted defensive fighter and tough as well. While Montiel might win the fight, getting a knockout will be very difficult.
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