Donaire Dubbed “Monster-Man”

The fight between bantamweight championFERNANDO MONTIEL and rising star NONTIO DONAIRE JR. Saturday, Feb. 19 in Las Vegas is a lot of things.

A legend facing an upstart.

An exciting installment in the budding rivalry between Mexico and the Philippines.

A contest between two friends ready to flatten each other’s faces.

A showdown between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. 

A fight between a “monster-man” and an ordinary man. Wait…. What?

That last wrinkle in the narrative swirling around this fight – the most anticipated match-up between little men in recent memory – was something of a late, and an unexpected, entry.

You see, during a press conference February 17 in Las Vegas, Donaire told the story of how, following a blood test, his nutritionist Victor Conte called him and said, “If you were Superman last fight, you’re a monster-man this fight.”  

So what happened during Donaire’s last bout? To give it something of apoetic frame: The Filipino rang former titlist Wladimir Sidorenko’s bell so often it was heard across time zones. Superman, indeed.

But it’s hard to imagine Donaire dominating Mexican great Montiel Superman-style, let alone like a monster-man. After all, the three-time, three-division champ recently filed a beastly win of his own by stopping Japanese titlist Hozumi Hasegawa in the fourth round. Montiel even broke the guy’s jaw.

So it’s no wonder these two powerhouses are aiming for a statement win – the kind that leaves the other guy dazed and confused on the canvas. “I know Fernando wants to knock me out, and I want to knock Fernando out,” said Donaire.

Montiel countered: “I’m not worried about his height. I’m not worried about his speed. I’m not worried about anything.

“This is the type of fight [that makes] the networks and, of course, the audience [take notice of] the lower weight classes.”