Montiel Blasts Concepcion, Looks to Future
It wasn’t supposed to be this easy for Fernando Montiel. His original opponent for Saturday night’s bout was supposed to be Eric Morel, regarded by many to be one of the best bantamweights in the sport. However, Morel dropped out at the last minute due to an injury. That necessitated a replacement for the scheduled bout in Chaipas, Mexico, and it was Rafael Concepcion who drew the lottery ticket and was able to get a last-minute shot at Montiel’s WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.
It was always going to be a long shot for Concepcion to upset Montiel and claim the unified championship. Even with a full training camp to prepare, Concepcion would have had a tough hill to climb. However, operating on just a few weeks’ notice, Concepcion had no chance. He looked like a fill-in fighter while Montiel looked like one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world as the champion cruised to an easy third-round knockout to retain his titles.
When Concepcion (14-5-1, 8 KOs) was named as Morel’s last-minute replacement in the bout, one thing was clear: Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) would be getting an opponent who wouldn’t be overwhelmed by being in world title fights. Concepcion had won the interim WBA super flyweight title in 2008 with a 10th-round knockout of AJ Banal before losing it in his first defence to Jorge Arce two months later. His last world title shot came last August when he lost a one-sided unanimous decision to Nonito Donaire for the WBA super flyweight title.
It might have seemed that Concepcion would be more than just a standard fill-in replacement fighter and give Montiel more than his fair share of trouble. After all, Concepcion was already scheduled to fight on the card, so he was already in fighting shape and ready to go, unlike the typical replacement fighter who has to quickly get into boxing shape.
However, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Montiel dominated Concepcion from the opening bell. Concepcion seemed to have one game plan from the beginning of the fight – turn it into an inside brawl and hope that his roughhousing tactics could cause Montiel problems. However, Montiel maintained his composure and kept Concepcion at bay with sharp jabs and lateral movement. Montiel turned up the heat in the second round, dropping Concepcion twice before ending the fight with a knockout early in the third round.
The victory was an impressive performance in front of an enthusiastic crowd in his home country. It served notice that his upset fourth-round stoppage over Hozumi Hasegawa four months ago to add the WBC title to his WBO crown. The victory over Concepcion sealed Montiel’s reputation as one of the best bantamweights in the world and perhaps set him up for a major fight later this fall.
The opponent for that fight could likely be Nonito Donaire. Like Montiel, Donaire is considered by many to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He’s also coming off of an impressive performance in his last fight, having successful defended his interim WBA super flyweight title against Hernan Marquez on July 10, fighting as a southpaw for the first several rounds until he switched back to his natural orthodox stance and stopped the overmatched Marquez in the eighth round.
Donaire has recently said that he would be willing to move up to bantamweight in order to fight big-name opponents and has specifically targeted Montiel. He threw his name into the hat as a possible replacement for Morel until Montiel’s management team decided to hold the fight as scheduled instead of pushing it back a few months. With Montiel’s victory on Saturday night, it appears that a showdown with Donaire in what would be one of the fights of the year is becoming more of a reality.
Montiel Blasts Concepcion, Looks to Future
It wasn’t supposed to be this easy for Fernando Montiel. His original opponent for Saturday night’s bout was supposed to be Eric Morel, regarded by many to be one of the best bantamweights in the sport. However, Morel dropped out at the last minute due to an injury. That necessitated a replacement for the scheduled bout in Chaipas, Mexico, and it was Rafael Concepcion who drew the lottery ticket and was able to get a last-minute shot at Montiel’s WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.
It was always going to be a long shot for Concepcion to upset Montiel and claim the unified championship. Even with a full training camp to prepare, Concepcion would have had a tough hill to climb. However, operating on just a few weeks’ notice, Concepcion had no chance. He looked like a fill-in fighter while Montiel looked like one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world as the champion cruised to an easy third-round knockout to retain his titles.
When Concepcion (14-5-1, 8 KOs) was named as Morel’s last-minute replacement in the bout, one thing was clear: Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) would be getting an opponent who wouldn’t be overwhelmed by being in world title fights. Concepcion had won the interim WBA super flyweight title in 2008 with a 10th-round knockout of AJ Banal before losing it in his first defence to Jorge Arce two months later. His last world title shot came last August when he lost a one-sided unanimous decision to Nonito Donaire for the WBA super flyweight title.
It might have seemed that Concepcion would be more than just a standard fill-in replacement fighter and give Montiel more than his fair share of trouble. After all, Concepcion was already scheduled to fight on the card, so he was already in fighting shape and ready to go, unlike the typical replacement fighter who has to quickly get into boxing shape.
However, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Montiel dominated Concepcion from the opening bell. Concepcion seemed to have one game plan from the beginning of the fight – turn it into an inside brawl and hope that his roughhousing tactics could cause Montiel problems. However, Montiel maintained his composure and kept Concepcion at bay with sharp jabs and lateral movement. Montiel turned up the heat in the second round, dropping Concepcion twice before ending the fight with a knockout early in the third round.
The victory was an impressive performance in front of an enthusiastic crowd in his home country. It served notice that his upset fourth-round stoppage over Hozumi Hasegawa four months ago to add the WBC title to his WBO crown. The victory over Concepcion sealed Montiel’s reputation as one of the best bantamweights in the world and perhaps set him up for a major fight later this fall.
The opponent for that fight could likely be Nonito Donaire. Like Montiel, Donaire is considered by many to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He’s also coming off of an impressive performance in his last fight, having successful defended his interim WBA super flyweight title against Hernan Marquez on July 10, fighting as a southpaw for the first several rounds until he switched back to his natural orthodox stance and stopped the overmatched Marquez in the eighth round.
Donaire has recently said that he would be willing to move up to bantamweight in order to fight big-name opponents and has specifically targeted Montiel. He threw his name into the hat as a possible replacement for Morel until Montiel’s management team decided to hold the fight as scheduled instead of pushing it back a few months. With Montiel’s victory on Saturday night, it appears that a showdown with Donaire in what would be one of the fights of the year is becoming more of a reality.
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