WBO Belts on the Line in Carson
Fernando Montiel, a former World Boxing Organization flyweight champion and a two-time WBO super-flyweight titleholder, hopes to get another championship belt tonight after another gain in weight.
Montiel (32-1-1, 24 knockouts) has beefed up to 119 pounds to challenge WBO bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (32-4, 28) in tonight’s main event at the Home Depot Center.
Montiel’s only defeat came in a championship bout. He lost his first super-flyweight title in 2003 to Mark Johnson on a majority decision. Montiel won the title back last year via a seventh-round knockout of Ivan Hernandez.
Gonzalez took his title last year by defeating Ratanachai Sor Vorapin on a seventh-round technical knockout.
There will be a second WBO title fight on the card. Super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (27-1, 25), making his first title defense, will face unbeaten Alejandro Barrera (18-0, 12), who has been working eight years for a shot at a major title.
De Leon won his title by beating another previously undefeated fighter, Sod Looknongyangtoy, who had faced De Leon last year with a 25-0 record. In that bout, De Leon took the vacant WBO crown with a unanimous decision.
Also on the card is a welterweight match between Paul Williams and Walter Dario Matthysse. Between them, they are 54-0 with 45 knockouts. Matthysse, who has one no-contest, is 25-0 with 24 KOs.
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