Nonito Donaire, the Filipino fighter, stopped Mexico's Fernando Montiel in the second-round today to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) bantamweight titles.
Donaire took a right to the head from the champion, then immediately countered with a devastating left to the head that sent Montiel crumpling to the canvas.
Montiel rose to continue and Donaire rushed over to land a left and a right before Russell Mora, the referee, stopped the fight after two minutes and 25 seconds of the second-round.
"I wanted to see how his body was, exactly where his head was going to be, so I had to take some (punches) in order to gain some knowledge," Donaire said.
"That's why I knew exactly what was going to happen, exactly where he was going to be. That's how I did it."
Donaire, a 28-year-old former world flyweight champion, rose to 26-1 with his 18th victory inside the distance and his 25th triumph in a row over the past decade.
Montiel, 31, fell to 44-3 with two drawn and suffered his first loss in 13 fights dating to 2006. Montiel, who had been a world champion since 1999, was taken for medical treatment after the defeat without comment.
The fighters were cautious at the start, Donaire landing a left hook in the opening seconds of round one and a combination early in round two, setting the stage for the punishing blow that decided the fight.
"I just came out there believing in this talent God has given me," said Donaire, who in recent months has become estranged from the father who taught him boxing over the direction of his career.
Donaire, known as the "Filipino Flash", was competing in only his second bout as a bantamweight following December's fourth-round knockout of Volodymyr Sydorenko (22-2) whose nose he broke during a bout in which he floored Sydorenko once each in the first, third, and, fourth rounds.
Donaire, who is now based in San Francisco, was born in General Santos, also the hometown of his idol, boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
"Pacquiao has given me this opportunity and I will always thank him for that," Donaire said. "I'm happy being No 2."
Donaire is well on his way to emulate the great Pacquiao, who earned his record eighth crown over as many different weight divisions with November's unanimous decision over ex-champion, Antonio Margarito (38-7) for the WBC's super welterweight belt.
Though asked about his future plans, Donaire took aim at his new rival champions rather than aiming to move on to a different weight class just yet.
“I want to be undisputed in this weight class,” Donaire said.
That will put hm in the path of the winner of an International Boxing Federation (IBF) tournament title showdown between Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko (28-2) and Mexico’s undefeated Abner Mares (21-0) with one draw ion April 23.
Arguably though, the king of the division is the Panaman southpaw Anselmo Moreno (30-1-1) who has a February 26 WBA title defence against the Venuzuelan Lorenzo Parra.
