Underdog Boxing: While Donaire is still MIA, Montiel goes back to business

Quick question. After a fight between two world-class boxers where a vicious knockout happened, who do you think will be back in the ring in a shorter time, the winner or the fighter who got knocked out? Common sense will dictate that we say that the winner comes back to the ring way before his opponent does. The victim will need to get over the loss both mentally and physically, choose a suitable opponent, then train before he fights. The winner can start planning his next move the moment after the fight. However, we all know that what should happen does not always happen in boxing. Nonito Donaire (26-1-0, 18 KOs), who is coming off the biggest win of his life, still does not have a fight scheduled. Fernando Montiel (44-3-2, 34 KOs), the fighter Donaire knocked out silly, is heading back to the ring on June 25 against a former interim world champion in Nehomar Cermeno (20-3-0, 12 KOs) of Panama. The fight against Cermeno is a good bounce back fight for Montiel. Even if the Panamanian has a few losses in his record, he is a legitimate threat. He defeated Christian Mijares twice and lost two painfully close split decisions to current WBA world champion Anselmo Moreno. Montiel is in a race with Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, and even Jorce Arce to be the first Mexican to win world titles in four different divisions. It’s been four months since the day when Donaire knocked out Montiel and he still has nothing planned. He clearly can’t do a Manny Pacquiao and just fight twice year. An up-and-coming fighter like Donaire must fight around four times a year to build a fan base in the US. However, because of his failed effort to escape Top Rank Promotions, Donaire is trapped in boxing’s very own version of purgatory. Curiously, this is not the first time this has happened. After knocking out Vic Darchinyan in 2007, it took Donaire five months to get another fight. The vanquished Darchinyan, on the other hand, fought after three months. Donaire blamed everybody for what happened after the Darchinyan fight. He blamed Gary Shaw for not seeking the best fights for him and he blamed the other world champions for avoiding him. He had all the right in the world to do that. But this time, it’s different. It’s all on him. While Montiel is on his final preparations for his comeback fight, Donaire has lost all the momentum he was riding after the big second round stoppage. There must be changes in how Donaire and his team handle things. Yes, he is oozing with talent and there appears to be no problem when it comes to in-ring performance but they have to remember that boxing also has a business side. They have burnt quite a few bridges and can’t afford to burn more. For the sake of Philippine boxing, let’s all hope that Donaire returns to the ring sooner rather than later. -- OMG, GMA News