Fernando Montiel Martínez (born March 1, 1979) is a Mexican former professional boxer. He is a three-division world champion, having held the WBO flyweight title from 2001 to 2002, the WBO junior bantamweight title twice between 2002 and 2008, and the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight titles from 2010 to 2011.

Early life Fernando Montiel is the youngest child of Manuel Montiel Sr., a former professional boxer and Fernando's current trainer. Fernando has four brothers that are former professional boxers: Eduardo Montiel, Alejandro Felix Montiel, Pedro Montiel and Manuel Montiel Jr. Fernando learned the sport of boxing in his father's gym located in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico alongside fellow boxer, Jorge "Travieso" Arce.

Regarding his nickname, Fernando has explained that one of his father's sister could not pronounce his father's name, Manuel de Jesus, when she was of younger age, so she called her brother "Cochul." The nickname was later on passed to Fernando in diminutive form, since "Cochulito" roughly translates into "Little Cochul." The nickname has no relation to a rooster, as many have argued.

Professional career

Early years at flyweight Montiel made his professional debut on December 6, 1996, at the age of 16. He accumulated a record of 20–0–1, which included a win over future champion Cruz Carbajal, before challenging WBO Flyweight Champion Isidro García. Montiel won the bout by seventh-round TKO to become champion at age 20. He defended the Flyweight title three times against Olympic medalist Zoltan Lunka, former champion Juan Domingo Córdoba and future champion Jose "Carita" Lopez.

Super flyweight In his next bout, Montiel moved up to the super flyweight division and defeated WBO Champion Pedro Alcázar, who died as a consequence of the blows suffered during their bout. He defended the super flyweight title against Roy Doliguez and also defeated former champion Ruben Sánchez León, but then lost the title to Mark Johnson by majority decision.

Montiel won all three of his bouts in 2004 then regained the WBO title by knocking out champion Ivan Hernández, who had recently knocked out Johnson. Montiel defended his super flyweight title against Evert Briceno (21–2) and Pramuansak Posuwan (29–0–1). In his next bout, he moved up to the bantamweight division and challenged WBO Champion Jhonny González, but lost the bout by split decision. Montiel returned to the super flyweight division and continued defending his title by defeating Z Gorres (26–1–1), Cecilio Santos (22–7–2), Luis Melendez (25–2–1), and former champion Martín Castillo (33–2–0). On May 31, 2008, in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, Montiel defeated Luis Maldonado by third-round technical knockout to successfully defend his WBO title for the eighth time. Montiel knocked Maldonado down in rounds one and three and the bout was stopped during Montiel's follow-up barrage.

Bantamweight WBO champion In his next match, he moved up to the bantamweight division and defeated future champion Juan Alberto Rosas. On March 28, 2009, he defeated Diego Oscar Silva (24–1–3) by third round knock out to win the Interim WBO Bantamweight title. On April 25, Montiel became a three division champion after being elevated to full Bantamweight Champion.

On September 12, 2009, Montiel faced fellow Mexican Alejandro Valdez (21–3–2) at the Palenque de la Feria in Tepic, Nayarit. The bout ended via technical draw at the 3rd round. On February 13, 2010, Montiel defeated Filipino prospect Ciso Morales (14–0) via KO at the 1st round, successfully defending his WBO Bantamweight title.

Unified WBC and WBO champion On April 30, 2010, Montiel faced WBC Bantamweight Champion Hozumi Hasegawa in Tokyo, Japan. Montiel, who was a heavy underdog leading up to the bout, knocked out Hasegawa in the fourth round, putting an end to the Japanese fighter's 5-year title reign. With the win, Montiel unified the WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles.

On October 30, 2010, Montiel successfully defended his titles against Rafael Concepción. Montiel dropped Concepcion to the canvas twice in the second round before knocking him out in the third round.

Losing the titles to Donaire

On October 4, 2010, promoter Bob Arum announced that Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire are on course for a February 19, 2011 bout. Before his bout with Donaire, Fernando had a 10-round non-title bout against fellow Mexican Jovanny Soto, on December 10, 2010 in Saltillo, Coahuila. Montiel defeated Soto via KO in the second round.

On February 19, 2011, the fight against Nonito Donaire took place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Montiel suffered his first TKO loss in the second round.

Further setbacks Montiel announced in the Mexican media that he would return to the ring in the super bantamweight division, as he had difficulties making the 118 pound bantamweight limit during his fight against Donaire. He rebounded with wins over future champion Nehomar Cermeno and Alvaro Perez, then faced Victor Terrazas for the vacant WBC Silver Super Bantamweight title, but was defeated by 12 round decision in what was considered an upset.

After putting together an 8 fight winning streak, during which he moved up to the Featherweight division and secured a win over former champion Cristobal Cruz, he faced Lee Selby for the IBF World Featherweight Title but lost a 12 round decision. In his following fight, Montiel suffered a first round knockout loss to Jorge Lara.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes62Loss Jorge LaraKO1 (10), Apr 30, 2016 61Loss54–5–2 Lee SelbyUD12Oct 14, 2015 60Win54–4–2 Rogelio Jun DoliguezUD10Mar 14, 2015 59Win53–4–2 Sergio PuenteUD10Nov 8, 2014 58Win52–4–2 Jesus Antonio RiosKO1 (10), Jul 26, 2014 57Win51–4–2 Cristóbal CruzMD10Mar 15, 2014 56Win50–4–2 Jaderes PaduaKO3 (12), Jun 22, 2013 55Win49–4–2 Giovanni CaroUD12Nov 24, 2012 54Win48–4–2 Arturo Santos ReyesSD12Jun 9, 2012 53Win47–4–2 Angky AngkottaKO9 (10), Mar 3, 2012 52Loss46–4–2 Victor Terrazas UD12Nov 19, 2011 51Win46–3–2 Alvaro Perez KO3 (10), Aug 20, 2011 50Win45–3–2 Nehomar Cermeño 3 (12), Jun 25, 2011 49Loss44–3–2 Nonito DonaireTKO2 (12), Feb 19, 2011 48Win44–2–2 Jovanny SotoKO2 (10), Dec 10, 2010 47Win43–2–2 Rafael Concepción KO3 (12), Jul 17, 2010 46Win42–2–2 Hozumi HasegawaTKO4 (12), Apr 30, 2010 45Win41–2–2 Ciso MoralesTKO1 (12), Feb 13, 2010 44Draw40–2–2 Alejandro Valdez3 (10) Sep 12, 2009 43Win40–2–1 Diego Oscar SilvaKO3 (12) Mar 28, 2009 42Win39–2–1 Juan Alberto RosasUD10Nov 2, 2008 41Win38–2–1 Luis MaldonadoTKO3 (12) May 31, 2008 40Win37–2–1 Martín CastilloKO4 (12) Feb 16, 2008 39Win36–2–1 Luis MelendezTKO12 (12), Oct 4, 2007 38Win35–2–1 Cecilio SantosTKO10 (12) Jul 14, 2007 37Win34–2–1 Z GorresSD12Feb 24, 2007 36Loss33–2–1 Jhonny González12May 27, 2006 35Win33–1–1 Pramuansak PosuwanUD12Oct 29, 2005 34Win32–1–1 Everth BricenoUD12Jul 16, 2005 33Win31–1–1 Ivan HernándezKO7 (12) Apr 9, 2005 32Win30–1–1 Reynaldo HurtadoKO7 (10) Sep 3, 2004 31Win29–1–1 Samuel LopezKO3 (10) Apr 29, 2004 30Win28–1–1 Roberto LopezTKO3 (10) Jan 16, 2004 29Loss27–1–1 Mark Johnson12Aug 16, 2003 28Win27–0–1 Ruben Sánchez LeónTKO2 (10) May 9, 2003 27Win26–0–1 Roy DoliguezTKO2 (12) Jan 18, 2003 26Win25–0–1 Pedro AlcázarTKO6 (12) Jun 22, 2002 25Win24–0–1 José LópezUD12Sep 8, 2001 24Win23–0–1 Juan Domingo CordobaKO1 (12) May 25, 2001 23Win22–0–1 Zoltan LunkaTKO7 (12) Mar 24, 2001 22Win21–0–1 Isidro GarcíaTKO7 (12) Dec 15, 2000 21Win20–0–1 Osvaldo GuerreroKO8 Sep 8, 2000 20Win19–0–1 Cruz CarbajalTKO4Apr 14, 2000 19Win18–0–1 Armando CorreaKO5Mar 17, 2000 18Win17–0–1 Sergio Millan PTS10Dec 3, 1999 17Win16–0–1 Ruben DiazPTS12Sep 11, 1999 16Win15–0–1 Cesar Ricardo Martinez KO5Apr 16, 1999 15Win14–0–1 Jose AlonsoUD10Jan 29, 1999 14Win13–0–1 Paulino Villalobos 10Oct 9, 1998 13Draw 12–0–1 Paulino Villalobos 10Jul 31, 1998 12Win12–0 Javier Varguez10Jun 5, 1998 11Win11–0 Leonardo RodriguezKO3Mar 20, 1998 10Win10–0 Jose Manuel Navarro KO1Feb 13, 1998 9Win9–0 Lorenzo TrejoTKO7Dec 5, 1997 8Win8–0 Hugo HernandezTKO1Oct 10, 1997 7Win7–0 Jesus Rodriguez TKO1Jul 18, 1997 6Win6–0 Martin Robles KO2May 16, 1997 5Win5–0 Manuel VegaKO3Apr 30, 1997 4Win4–0 Maury Ayala KO1Apr 18, 1997 3Win3–0 Noe AcostaTKO2Mar 20, 1997 2Win2–0 Marcos Mendivil 1Feb 28, 1997 1Win1–0 Manuel Tamayo 2Dec 6, 1996

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBO flyweight champion (112 lbs) WBO super flyweight champion (115 lbs) (2×) WBC bantamweight champion (118 lbs) WBO bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Interim world titles WBO interim bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Regional/International titles WBA North American super flyweight champion (115 lbs) USNBC Silver super bantamweight champion (122 lbs)

Honorary titles WBO Super Champion

See also List of boxing triple champions List of Mexican boxing world champions

References

External links