Donaire v Montiel, Sturm v Hearns. Final thoughts.

Donaire v Montiel should be a very good match-up with both guys being big hitters.
Montiel has more rounds in the bag up to this point in his career and a better KO record compared to Donaire, but I like Donaire in this one. Could see an explosive 12-rounder, or a brutal KO. What you guys think?

Hearns steps up to 12 rounds for only the second time in his professional career and brings with him 20 KO's from 26. Could be a step-up too much against Sturm. Sturm tho isn't a big puncher [14/34], winning the majority of his 12-round fights on points. I'm picking Sturm in this, but could young Hearns be a very dangerous opponent? What's your thoughts?

 

Donaire-Montiel is a difficult fight to pick, IMO. The bookies have the right favourite, but I think their confidence in Donaire is a tad distended.

Nonito is an AGGRESSIVE guy in terms of his instincts to the smell of blood. So while you expect him to get the better of things as a BOXING match, if and when he hurts Montiel or gets over eager in trying to do so, the fact he's moving up in weight and fighting such a compact, sturdy guy at the weight may come back to bite him. Montiel's a dangerous, short, accurate puncher etc and odds of 4-1 on him getting a stoppage are too long.

My pick's Donaire by stoppage, but a decision win or a Montiel stoppage win are all feasible outcomes. From a better perspective the only outcome I'd be willing to rule out is a Montiel decision win which i think is unlikely. Very good match up.

Sturm-Hearns, much less so. This is either a very wide decision win for Sturm or perhaps a mid-late stoppage. Ronald Hearns isn't even on the JCC jr level or close.

 

Not much left to add to what Hut-Hut already stated. No outcome in Montiel-Donaire would surprise me, although my pick all along has been Nonito by stoppage.

Sturm-Hearns is a garbage fight. The only two things I expect from this fight are a lopsided Sturm win and bunch of excuses afterward from Hearns.

 

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HCRgcMHUaa8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Montiel reminds me of Dmitry Pirog in the way he can feint with his balance and throw completely unreadable hard shots. Look at Concepcions eyes & body angling before getting hit with a few of those, he's actually looking to defend completely different shots. High, high level of offensive skill. I might go back and forward on this one until 10m before it starts.

I'll stick with my first instinct of Donaire's fleet feet and range to carry the day, but let it be known, NOTHING would surprise me here. Superb fight.

 

I don't expect Donaire/Montiel to be all that competitive to be honest. I like Donaire big.

 

Donaire-Montiel is among the best fights that can be made now. I pick Donaire, but he could be one of those guys who look superb against lesser opponents

 

Lesser like Darchinyan and Sidorenko?

Doesn´t make sense to me. He looked sensational in his biggest fights.

 

Donaire is a badass

 

Truth.

 

What I meant was that Montiel is the best guy he has faced so it is a new situation. He was indeed superb against Sidorenko, but can he still do that now that the opponent is even better?

 

I'm not totally convinced that Montiel is a better fighter than Darchinyan. More pleasing to watch offensively, sure. Probably more skillful. But I'm not sure he's better, all things considered.

 

What makes Montiel better in my opinion is his tactical skill, he has the ability to find a way to a victory against different type of opponents. I believe Donaire will control the action early, but I could see Montiel finding a way to turn things like he did with Hasegawa. I am not completely sold on Donaire yet, he looks astonishing, but we'll see if he is more flashy than effective

 

It's a great match-up, that's for sure. I hope I'm wrong and Montiel puts up a great fight.

 

montiel is far superior to any of donaires previous foes.

 

i dont think donaire is THAT good, and i can easily see montiel winning in a dominant fashion. not sure which montiel will show up though. i guess donaire should be favored.

i wouldnt watch sturm vs. hearns even if it was on espn.

 

Indeed the fight I last watched, Donaire looked very effective against Sidorenko, but I think Sidorenko is pretty poor. Montiel looked good against Concepcion, the only fight i've seen Montiel in, but both fighters are dangerous opponents and either can taste the canvas in this one. Am I right in observing that Montiel is dangerous on the backfoot?

 

Montiel's offense isn't alwlays more pleasing to watch than Darchinyan's...sometimes it depends on who the opponent is, and how much respect he has for them.

 

Im sure montiel is better than darchinyan. his resume is better and his ability is far better

 

I agree, Montiel's the better fighter, but some fights he looks the way he did against Jovanny Soto, and others, he looks the way he did against Mark Johnson.

 

i cant fault him for freezing up in his first big fight, against a fearsome, all time great like Johnson

 

No, but what I'm saying is, Darchinyan is an offensive fighter and as such, went down swinging against Donaire.

I don't expect Montiel to go out in that fashion, if he does go out.

Montiel will be tougher to find and tougher to KO for Donaire.

 

agREED. Montiel is as inconsistent a top fighter as there is in the sport today. Plus, I 'm not sure I'd argue that his resume is that much better than Darchinyan's. In fact, prior to the Hasegawa fight, I wouldn't have argued it at all.

There is no question, though, that he's a much more well-rounded fighter than Crab Walk Vic.

 

Could you argue that Darchinyan's win over Mijares - at the time it happened - is more impressive that anything Montiel has done in a boxing ring?

 

Taking into consideration where Hasegawa and Mijares ranked at the time:

I think Montiel beating Hasegawa is more impressive on paper, but Vic's performance was far more dominant.

 

Cool. Do you remember the odds for those fights?

 

Damn, you're not giving this one up without a fight. ::

Mijares was a leading contender for FOTY before the Darchinyan fight, but I agree with Jake in ranking the Hasegawa win above it.

 

::

That's fair.

 

I think both (Montiel and Darchinyan) were 3-1 underdogs.

 

Cool, thanks.

 

I would still love to see Darchinyan and Donaire do it again, even though the balance of their careers has tilted since the first fight