Fernando Montiel vs Mark Johnson

Washington DC's Mark Johnson became a world champion for the third time when he defeated Fernando Montiel by majority decision for the World Boxing Organisation super-flyweight title at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, on August 16, 2003. Montiel, 24, entered unbeaten in 28 professional contests and was making another defence of the championship he had first won from Isidro Garcia. Johnson was eight years older and had already held the International Boxing Federation titles at flyweight and super-flyweight. His position had declined after successive defeats by Rafael Marquez, but victory over Ricardo Medina two months earlier had secured this opportunity. Montiel represented the younger generation; Johnson entered with the greater experience and a reputation for speed, judgement and accomplished southpaw boxing.

The opening round was conducted at a cautious pace. Both men feinted and shifted their positions without committing themselves to sustained attacks. Montiel moved lightly and waited for Johnson to lead, while Johnson edged forward behind his right jab. There was more display than effective punching, each boxer attempting to draw a mistake from the other. The second followed much the same course until Johnson began finding the range with the jab. A brief exchange near the ropes provided the first purposeful action, but neither man gained a clear advantage.

By the third round, Montiel had settled upon a counter-punching plan. He circled to his left and gave ground, seeking to catch Johnson as the challenger followed. Johnson accepted the duty of making the fight. He advanced steadily, used the jab to occupy Montiel and drove occasional right hands into the body. The fourth again belonged largely to Johnson’s pressure and greater willingness to initiate. Montiel remained difficult to reach cleanly but was not punching often enough to discourage the challenger. Johnson’s feet kept him within striking distance, and his body work began to reduce the space in which the champion could operate.

The first decisive incident came in the fifth. Montiel was throwing a right hand when Johnson struck him sharply on the chin with a counter. Montiel lost his balance and fell, partially breaking the descent with his right hand. Although the champion’s own movement contributed to the fall, the punch had landed, and referee Mike Ortega correctly administered a count. Montiel rose without appearing badly hurt, but the knockdown gave Johnson a valuable two-point round and confirmed that the older man’s timing remained effective.

Montiel responded well in the sixth. He regained his composure, moved more fluently and landed a brisk combination while shuffling out of Johnson’s path. Johnson pursued but could not repeat the success of the previous round. The seventh and eighth were quieter. Montiel continued circling, and Johnson’s pace began to decline after his earlier pressure. The challenger still advanced, but the attacks were less frequent, and the champion escaped without being forced into many exchanges. Neither man was cut or seriously marked, and the contest remained a technical argument rather than a severe physical struggle.

Montiel improved in the ninth by jabbing while moving and turning away from Johnson’s rushes. The challenger continued trying to close the distance and made repeated efforts to touch the champion with something before Montiel could escape. Montiel showed greater urgency in the tenth. His left hook became a useful weapon, and he boxed with the energy of a man aware that the title might be slipping away. Johnson was no longer controlling the ring as comfortably as he had in the middle stages, but he remained composed and did not allow Montiel to establish uninterrupted command.

The veteran raised his effort in the championship rounds. Johnson landed a firm right hook in the 11th and appeared livelier than he had in the preceding rounds. Montiel continued to move and counter, but Johnson’s renewed activity strengthened his position. The 12th produced the best action of the contest. Johnson caught Montiel with left-hand counters, then landed a heavy right that stunned the champion. Rather than protect a possible lead, Johnson pressed forward. Montiel answered, and the two exchanged freely through much of the second half of the round. The late rally brought the crowd to its feet and gave Johnson a strong conclusion to a fight in which several earlier rounds had been difficult to separate.

Judge Melvina Lathan scored the contest 115-112 for Johnson, and Steve Epstein returned the much wider figure of 117-110. Joe Dwyer had the boxers level at 114-114, giving Johnson a majority decision. One contemporary ringside account scored it 116-112 for the challenger. The 117-110 card did not reflect the competitiveness of Montiel’s better rounds, but Johnson’s victory itself was reasonable. He had supplied most of the early pressure, scored the only knockdown and finished strongly when the result remained in doubt. Montiel’s movement and late improvement kept the contest close, yet too much of his work had been reactive. He surrendered ground, waited for counters and allowed Johnson to establish the more favourable impression in several quiet rounds.

Johnson’s record advanced to 42 victories and three defeats, while Montiel suffered the first loss of his professional career. For Johnson, the result restored much of the standing lost in the two Marquez contests and made him a champion in a third weight division. Montiel had not been outclassed, nor had his future been seriously diminished, but on this evening the older man’s judgement proved superior. Johnson understood when to lead, when to conserve himself and when to increase the pressure. The knockdown in the fifth and his vigorous finish in the last two rounds supplied the clearest differences in a close, measured contest.

I always rated Mark Johnson as one of the cleverest little men of his era. He had already been a fine flyweight and super-flyweight champion, but the two defeats by Rafael Marquez made people think the sharpness had gone. Against Fernando Montiel, he showed that experience can still beat youth when the older fighter understands distance, timing and when to spend his energy.

Montiel was unbeaten, quicker on his feet and expected to represent the new generation. The problem was that he spent too many rounds circling and waiting. Movement only wins rounds when punches come with it. Johnson took the centre, kept the right jab working and made Montiel react to him. The fifth-round knockdown was not a heavy collapse, but it came from proper timing: Johnson caught Montiel while he was punching and took advantage of his balance being committed.

Montiel improved later, particularly with the left hook, and Johnson slowed through the middle rounds. But the veteran knew exactly when the fight needed to be won. He raised his pace in the final two, landed the cleaner counters and hurt Montiel in the 12th.

I had Johnson winning. The 117-110 card was far too wide, while 115-112 was reasonable. Montiel was talented, but he surrendered too much initiative. Johnson boxed like an old professional who knew that quiet rounds still had to be claimed, and that made him a champion in a third weight division.