Nonito Donaire celebrated before he even scored KO when he saw opponent’s legs turn to jelly

Nonito Donaire announced himself to the bantamweight division when he knocked out Fernando Montiel spectacularly.

In 2011, having already reigned as world champion in the flyweight division, Donaire moved up in weight to take on Montiel for the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight world titles.

And it did not take long for Donaire to be crowned champion, as he got his opponent out of there quickly.

In round two, both men traded left hooks, but Donaire’s had a lot more behind it, as Montiel collapsed down to the canvas.

At this point, Montiel seemed unable to control his body, as his legs and arms twitched, but he couldn’t lift himself.

Eventually, his brain kicked back into gear and he made it to his knees, before falling flat on his face once again.

Donaire began celebrating, lifting his hand in the air and he jumped up and down believing he had won.

Somehow, however, Montiel beat the count and found himself on his feet, but he was stumbling around the ring and looked incredibly unstable.

The referee allowed the fight to continue, but after two more power punches from Donaire the contest was over and this time he could celebrate for real.

In his post-fight interview, Donaire revealed he had predicted a second round knockout to his coach before the bout.

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“I told [my trainer] Robert Garcia in camp before Christmas it would be a second-round knockout. I had a premonition,” Donaire said.

The Filipino would go on to become world champion in yet another weight class just a year later in the super-bantamweight division.

But, in 2013, Donaire lost that title against Guillermo Rigondeaux in what was only the second defeat of his professional career.

Most recently, Donaire shot back into the limelight due to his thrilling 2019 clash with pound-for-pound ranked Naoya Inoue.

It was an incredible encounter that Inoue won by unanimous decision and the fight was awarded Ring Magazine’s ‘Fight of the Year’.

In the rematch, Donaire was knocked out and he also lost his most recent fight, but the 41-year-old four-weight world champion has not expressed any desire to retire.

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