Fernando Montiel facts for kids

Fernando Montiel Martínez, born on March 1, 1979, is a famous Mexican professional boxer. He is known for being a "triple champion." This means he won world boxing titles in three different weight classes! He held the WBO flyweight title, the WBO junior bantamweight title (twice!), and both the WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.

Early Life and Family

Fernando Montiel grew up in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. He is the youngest of five brothers, and all of them were professional boxers! Their father, Manuel Montiel Sr., was also a boxer and is now Fernando's trainer.

Fernando learned to box in his father's gym. He trained alongside another well-known boxer, Jorge "Travieso" Arce.

His nickname is Cochulito. Fernando explained that his aunt couldn't say his father's name, Manuel de Jesus, when she was little. So, she called him "Cochul." The nickname was then passed to Fernando as "Cochulito," which means "Little Cochul." It has nothing to do with a rooster, even though some people thought it did!

Fernando's Boxing Journey

Starting as a Flyweight

Fernando Montiel started his professional boxing career very young, at just 16 years old, on December 6, 1996. He had an amazing start, winning 20 fights and having only one draw. One of his early wins was against future champion Cruz Carbajal.

At age 20, he challenged Isidro García for the WBO Flyweight title. Fernando won the fight by TKO (Technical Knockout) in the seventh round, becoming a world champion! He successfully defended his flyweight title three times. He beat Olympic medalist Zoltan Lunka, former champion Juan Domingo Córdoba, and future champion Jose "Carita" Lopez.

Moving to Super Flyweight

After his success as a flyweight, Montiel moved up to the super flyweight division. He quickly defeated WBO Champion Pedro Alcázar to win another world title. He defended this title against Roy Doliguez and also beat former champion Ruben Sánchez León. However, he later lost the title to Mark Johnson in a close decision.

In 2004, Montiel won all three of his fights. He then got his WBO title back by knocking out Ivan Hernández. Ivan Hernández had recently beaten Mark Johnson. Fernando defended his super flyweight title two more times. He won against Evert Briceno and Pramuansak Posuwan.

He then tried to move up to the bantamweight division to challenge Jhonny González for his WBO title. Fernando lost this fight by a split decision. He returned to the super flyweight division and continued to defend his title. He defeated Z Gorres, Cecilio Santos, Luis Melendez, and former champion Martín Castillo. On May 31, 2008, in Mexico, Montiel successfully defended his WBO title for the eighth time. He stopped Luis Maldonado in the third round.

Becoming a Bantamweight Champion

After his many wins at super flyweight, Fernando Montiel moved up to the bantamweight division. He defeated future champion Juan Alberto Rosas. On March 28, 2009, he knocked out Diego Oscar Silva to win the WBO Interim Bantamweight title. Soon after, on April 25, he was made the full WBO Bantamweight Champion, making him a champion in three different weight classes!

On September 12, 2009, he had a technical draw with Alejandro Valdez. Then, on February 13, 2010, Montiel successfully defended his WBO Bantamweight title. He knocked out Filipino boxer Ciso Morales in the first round.

Unifying the Titles

On April 30, 2010, Montiel faced WBC Bantamweight Champion Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan. Many people thought Hasegawa would win, but Montiel surprised everyone! He knocked out Hasegawa in the fourth round. This win ended Hasegawa's five-year reign as champion. By winning, Montiel unified the WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles, holding both at the same time.

On October 30, 2010, Montiel successfully defended his unified titles against Rafael Concepción. Montiel knocked Concepción down twice before winning by knockout in the third round.

Losing to Nonito Donaire

A big fight was announced for February 19, 2011, against Nonito Donaire. Before that, Fernando had a non-title fight against Jovanny Soto in December 2010, which he won by knockout in the second round.

The highly anticipated fight against Nonito Donaire took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fernando Montiel suffered his first TKO loss in the second round. He lost his WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.

Later Career Fights

After losing his titles, Montiel announced he would move up to the super bantamweight division. He found it hard to make the bantamweight weight limit for his fight against Donaire. He bounced back with wins against Nehomar Cermeno and Alvaro Perez. He then fought Victor Terrazas for a vacant title but lost after 12 rounds.

Fernando then had an impressive eight-fight winning streak. During this time, he moved up to the Featherweight division. He even secured a win over former champion Cristobal Cruz. His next big challenge was against Lee Selby for the IBF World Featherweight Title, but he lost that fight after 12 rounds. In his very next fight, Montiel suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jorge Lara.

Professional Boxing Record Summary

See also

In Spanish: Fernando Montiel para niños

• List of boxing triple champions
• List of Mexican boxing world champions