Tweet
Fernando Montiel injured in bike accident, Donaire fight in jeopardy
''Fernando Montiel, the number one ranked bantamweight in the world, will now be out for at least the rest of the year after injuring his leg in a motorcycle accident.
Details of the incident are sketchy at the moment, with Montiel only mentioning the accident through his twitter account so far, although a more detailed account of the severity of the injuries should be available in the coming days.
The original content of his tweets, with translations were:
"me cai en una moto y me fragmente la tibia y pss un cortadon ya viste vrd"
"amig@s djenme informarles q lamentablemente sufri un accidente en moto y me hospitalizaron."
I fell on a bike and fractured my Tibia
Friends I must inform you that unfortunately I suffered a motorcycle accident and was hospitalized.
(apologies in advance to any Spanish speaking readers for my shoddy translations)
Looking at the rather gruesome picture provided by Montiel though, it's far from certain that he will be recovered and ready in time to fight again in February, the date earmarked by Bob Arum for a possible showdown with perennially unlucky rival Nonito Donaire.
The time a break such as this requires to heal would typically be around 8 weeks, although until more details are provided its difficult to say for sure how long Montiel will be out of action.
If the fracture isn't as bad as it appears from the picture, then a February fight might still be workable. Eight weeks or so from now would mean a return to training around Christmas, which would give Montiel two months to get ready. Having said that, given how dangerous Donaire is and that Montiel will need to be at the top of his game, he might want longer to prepare.
The news will no doubt also come as a blow to Donaire, who has struggled over the last few years to land big name opponents, and needs a big fight to raise his profile. If the proposed fight against Montiel fight was about to be announced formally, which Top Rank seemed to be hinting at over the last few weeks, it would represent a return to high profile fights for the Filipino.
For the time being Donaire has another fight scheduled in December against the respectable but little known Volodymyr Sydorenko so he shouldn't be waiting on the sidelines for too long at least. There is a danger though of Donaire going down as something of a one hit wonder, a talented fighter who never gets the recognition he deserves because of a failure to land fights against the most talented opposition.
Here's hoping Montiel makes a speedy recovery, and that Donaire's luck turns around.
Victor Allen, Pittsburgh: "Damn what does Donaire have to do? He got a new promoter, he beats everyone they put in front of him and still he can't get a break"
Greg Hammond, Harrisburg: "That is one nasty break, isn't riding motorcycles banned under most athletes contracts?"
http://www.examiner.com/fight-sports...fight-jeopardy
Comment