Fernando Montiel Vs Nonito Donaire Countdown Thread......(poll added)

Nonito Donaire Jr. is less than a month away from his biggest challenge as a professional yet you wouldn't sense it being around the 28-year old former champion. Donaire is currently training in the confines of the Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos, California, gearing himself up for the seasoned challenge of veteran bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel, whom he meets on February 19th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I caught up with Donaire on Monday and was able to witness his sessions against three younger sparring partners, all of whom gave him a different look while in battle. After Donaire's time in the gym we were able to sit down and discuss the importance of his fight with Montiel and his aspirations outside of the ring.

Continue reading for Donaire's thoughts on February 19th, why he doesn't feel nervous whatsoever, how he plans on dealing with Montiel's power, and his thoughts towards reaching out and touching the lives of others...

A surreal moment...
"It is kind of. Because this is the biggest fight of my career. This is the biggest guy I have ever faced in terms of experience and just the status of who he is. I'm excited. I'm actually in tremendous shape right now. I wish the fight was this week because I'm in shape and the hardest thing to do right now is to just maintain this mentality and this hunger. I still have a few more weeks to go but I feel good. I'm just very excited for it."

Do or die...
"This is the first time I felt like my life is on the line. Like it is a do or die. I have to protect everything I have. It's kind of like a feeling, like I feel like this is the first time my life is on the line and I feel like it's a do or die thing. I must survive, I have to survive, I have to get through it. There is no fear. There is no nothing. It's just excitement. It's just an eagerness to get in there and to prove myself and like I said I want to do my best out there. There is nothing else in my mind but defeating this guy and it's just weird. There is no fear, no nothing, no nervousness. Maybe when the fight gets close or when we are walking in the ring I might get butterflies but for now I don't see it coming. I'm willing to risk everything going into that ring."

My own weapons...
"I faced guys who are strong. I've faced guys who are stronger than them. I faced guys who threw more punches. I faced guys who have a tremendous punch like him. I have my own weapons, my own strengths, and I feel that I hit stronger than him. I hit harder than him. That's how it is. If I do get caught, knock on wood, I'm here to win. I'm really focused. Usually when I'm in that ring I'm really settled and I'm really focused. And I know what to do out there, regardless if something unexpected happens. That is to calm myself and be smart about it."

The art of sparring...
"I'm ready. The sparring helps me. It's a simulation of how in shape I am. How much I can push myself and from the way it looks I am in tremendous shape. I am ready and I should be sparring six or eight rounds at this moment but I am going ten or maybe twelve rounds already this week. The mentality of it all is that it gives me confidence that I can reach that many rounds with the heavier gloves. With headgear, with all of that stuff, with little time to recover."

Getting past Montiel...
"I think it just helps out boxing to put two guys, two good fighters, in that ring and it helps me tremendously. It helps boxing tremendously. It's exciting. People look forward to it. With a guy like Montiel, there is no doubt of what I am capable of if I can get past this."

Inspiring others...
"My goal is to inspire others. There are kids that need help. There are kids that have no outlet to be inspired, to be showed that they can have anything and everything they want come true. Because they know they can make it happen. I made it happen, but the thing is, I had it in the back of my head that I was destined to be something. It was always in the back of my head. I just want to reach out to the people that need help because 90% of people out there need help. As much as people don't realize that, they need inspiration. That's just me."



:blurp

 

While in the San Francisco area last Monday I paid a visit to the Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos to check out Nonito Donaire in training as he geared up for his February 19th date against bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel. Donaire is in the biggest fight of his life, set to take place at the Mandalay Bay, and I was curious to see how his preparation was coming along.
While inside of the facility I soon noticed an unassuming individual dressed in dark blue right outside of the ring. With his hands fully wrapped and a hoodie covering his head, I could tell that he meant business and would soon discover him to be one of Donaire's chief sparring partners.


Austreberto Juarez, known better as simply 'Beto', would end up giving Donaire some of his most rigorous work on this day. Juarez and the former flyweight champion gave little quarter and their leather was thrown in bunches with each man copping some telling shots. It was just the kind of lively work that Donaire is in need of as he inches closer to his date with destiny against Los Mochis' brazen Montiel.

After Donaire's ten rounds of sparring he would work on various core exercizes in the corner of the gym and I got to know Juarez a little better. The 25-year old was born in Copandaro, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico and moved to Ventura, California when he was still an infant.

"I moved out here as a baby and one of my older brothers used to box," Juarez reflected. "I saw him fighting once and they gave him a trophy. I wanted to get a trophy too and that's how I got started. I started out here at eight years old."

Juarez revealed that as an amateur he partook in the National Silver Gloves and Golden Gloves before competing on the U.S. Olympic Team. He was also able to travel to such locations as Cuba, England, and France amongst others and spoke with great fondness of those times.

Juarez campaigns in the flyweight division and currently holds a 10-0 record with two knockouts. He came back from a nearly four-year layoff last year with a pair of victories in the summer over Ernie Marquez and Joseph Rios. He is a well-conditioned boxer who knows when to attack and mixes his punches up well to the body and head.

I asked Juarez how he connected with Donaire for this particular camp and he told me how he joined the 'Filipino Flash' during his last camp, a December blowout over tough Ukrainian Wladimir Sidorenko, and was subsequently brought back to help him ready for Montiel.


Asked what it is like sparring with one of the world's premier fighters, I could sense how grateful Jaurez was.

"It's a good experience," he continued. "I'm still learning. Never too old to learn. Working with Nonito I learned a lot of stuff. It's hard work. He's a hard worker. He's working hard for this fight. I love it becuase I am learning. I'm thankful that he brought me back."

Asked for his take on the Montiel fight, Juarez stated with conviction just how strong Donaire is and how it is going to be a great battle. He expects his gym mate to eventually take the fight over with his speed on his way to capturing the WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.

That prediction is definitely within reason given Donaire's abundance of talent but for me this particular day at the gym wasn't just about one fighter. 'Beto' Juarez was able to show me something inside of the ring that caught my eye and he is one to look out for in the future.

 

nice 1. will check these out when i get back from football:good

 

During his sixteen-plus year career, Mexico City's Jorge Lacierva may not have carved out a hall of fame ledger or even won a world title but he was able to make a little bit of a name for himself between 112 and 126 pounds over the years. Such highlights of the 32-year old's career include a spirited battle with a prime Mark 'Too Sharp' Johnson, being the first man to defeat excellent Columbian champion Mauricio Pastrana, and giving Panama's Celestino Caballero more than he bargained for in losing a decision in August of 2007.

And Lacierva certainly isn't in a hurry to hang up the gloves, returning from a nearly two-year layoff to reel off three victories over the second half of 2010, the last being somewhat of an upset over Joksan Hernandez in Campeche, Mexico on December 18th. Lacierva says that he is next slated to see action on February 26th and will then be gunning for a crown at 126 pounds.

Lacierva definitely sounds like a busy man these days and I was especially interested when I heard that he had recently spent time serving as a chief sparring partner for Fernando Montiel at the fighter's personal gym in Los Mochis. Speaking to me earlier this week, Lacierva confirmed that he had been putting in work with 'Cochulito' as the bantamweight champion gears up for his February 19th challenge of ambitious Nonito Donaire at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

"I was there," said Lacierva. "He's training hard, man. He's training and everything. We were sparring for six rounds. Also, there was another guy, a Japanese guy helping him. Kameda. Tomoki Kameda. I would help him with five rounds and he would help him with four and there was another guy from Tijuana, Alex Lopez."

Lacierva went on to tell me that he has known Montiel for several years, always considering him a friend, and that he was treated very well while in camp. The opportunity to work with Montiel for this particular camp actually came after Lacierva's recent victory over Hernandez. On the same card Jorge 'Travieso' Arce would stop Adolfo Ramos in one round. Arce happens to be working with Montiel's father Manuel these days and they asked Lacierva if he would be willing to come to camp.

I asked Lacierva how Montiel was looking and what his demeanor was like in camp.

"He's just focused," he continued. "Whenever he trains he's just doing his thing. He doesn't joke around, he just trains. He's focused on what he's doing. He's not like an outgoing guy. At the gym he's just working out and doing his job. He's just focused for this fight. His personality is just calm. He's a nice guy but he's not loud or anything."

Lacierva is definitely awkward in his attack, often switching from orthodox to southpaw, but his often-upright style doesn't seem to fully resemble someone like Donaire. The former contender conceded that while sparring Montiel he had to change up his stance to mirror the Fil-Am fighter as best he could and that the work between the two was very intense.

"He's a tough fellow," Lacierva says of his countryman. "He throws a lot of combinations. The thing is, I have to spar moving back. I have to move around and switch because that's what Nonito does. I was doing that and he was just putting pressure on me. We were doing hard sparring."

Lacierva also noted that he is back at his home bases of Mexico City, having returned recently after his two-week stint in camp with the champion.

"I left a week ago because I was getting too heavy for him. Yeah, I was too big for him."

I asked Lacierva what specifically he meant by that comment and he seemed to point out that Montiel and his people were instead looking to work with someone who brings speed and athleticism to the table, as Lacierva is a naturally bigger man.
It's also worth pointing out that Lacierva is no stranger to Donaire either, as the two men got to know each other years back when they were both fighting under Gary Shaw's promotional banner. The two men often would share the spotlight with one another fighting on the same events and he has nothing but praise for Donaire's incredible skills.

Knowing each man from a unique perspective over time, there couldn't seem to be a better man to ask for a prediction on the Montiel-Donaire fight but Lacierva seems to be at a loss when assessing the contest.

"How do I expect the fight between them? I don't know. It's a tough fight for both of them. It could be either way. Nonito is a really, really good fighter. I think he's a tough guy. Montiel is a tough guy too. They both have skills. If I had to bet money...****, I wouldn't even bet."

 

na mate, got 5 a side:yep

i went down on sat. should have been about 3-0 when they got a last minute goal. we played some real good footie for longs spells so its still encouraging:thumbsup