Donaire celebrated before KO when he saw opponent’s legs turn to jelly

Nonito Donaire announced himself to the bantamweight division when he knocked out Fernando Montiel spectacularly.

In 2011, having already reigned as world champion in the flyweight division, Donaire moved up in weight to take on Montiel for the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight world titles.

4

And it did not take long for Donaire to be crowned champion, as he got his opponent out of there quickly.

In round two, both men traded left hooks, but Donaire’s had a lot more behind it, as Montiel collapsed down to the canvas.

At this point, Montiel seemed unable to control his body, as his legs and arms twitched, but he couldn’t lift himself.

Eventually, his brain kicked back into gear and he made it to his knees, before falling flat on his face once again.

Donaire began celebrating, lifting his hand in the air and he jumped up and down believing he had won.

Somehow, however, Montiel beat the count and found himself on his feet, but he was stumbling around the ring and looked incredibly unstable.

It was an astonishing display of resilience and ‘The Filipino Flash’ knew he’d have to channel himself back in after a shock recovery.

The referee allowed the fight to continue, but after two more power punches from Donaire the contest was over and this time he could celebrate for real.

In his post-fight interview, Donaire revealed he had predicted a second round knockout to his coach before the bout.

4

“I told [my trainer] Robert Garcia in camp before Christmas it would be a second-round knockout. I had a premonition,” he said 13-years ago.

After finishing his rival with the ferocious left hook, Donaire had become unified champion picking up the WBC and WBO bantamweight belts.

It was the second division he had conquered at world level, having won the IBF title at flyweight in 2007.

After one defence of his title that he won in spectacular fashion, Donaire chose to move to super-bantamweight.

In that division he picked up the WBO strap at the first time of asking with a win over Alfredo Vazquez Jr in 2012, before adding the IBF belt in the same year.

His next move came in a bid to become four-weight champion and he successfully completed the feat beating Simpiwe Vetyeka in 2014 to grab the WBA featherweight crown.

Donaire then captured the WBO super-bantamweight strap for the second time in 2015 after electing to move down in weight.

The legend’s career continued to throw up big fights, being beaten by Carl Frampton and Jesse Magdaleno.

But none bigger than current pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue, his rival who he first fought in November 2019.

4

It was a unification clash back at bantamweight but he was outclassed by ‘The Monster’ who was forced to dig deep to progress beyond the Filipino.

Three years later after campaigning regularly, Donaire received his long-awaited sequel against the Japanese star.

It was his first opportunity to pick up three belts simultaneously, but this time he was stopped in just the second round by a thunderous combination.

But his career wasn’t over yet as he took on the challenge to make history in 2023 by becoming the world’s oldest bantamweight champion again.

But he failed, losing by unanimous decision to Alexandro Santiago in their showdown last July.

There has been no word on Donaire’s retirement as of yet, but he is yet to fight since his recent failed venture.

4

He has now taken up a role in coaching, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his time in the ring is up.

The 41-year-old hinted that he could be back in the near future, with British star Sunny Edwards in the frame.

He said: “I’m still going to go for it, man. One hundred per cent.

“When that opportunity come, I know Sunny Edwards was calling me out, I can drop down in weight, whatever you want, or you want to come up in weight?

“Let’s do it. Of course, there’s Takuma Inoue, there’s [Jason] Moloney, there’s a lot of people I’m reaching out to to get that fight.”

Regardless of whether he returns to the ring or not, there’s no doubt Donaire will be a Hall of Famer in the not-too-distant future.

His four-weight world champion status across flyweight, bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight surely guarantees this.

And his 50-fight record (42-8) is among the strongest in the sport.