Nonito Donaire won the WBO and WBC bantamweight championships Saturday night, stopping Fernando Montiel with a left hook at 2:25 in the second round.
Donaire, a Filipino-American who made his bantamweight debut in December, controlled most of the fight against the Mexican champion. He landed a left hook that briefly stunned Montiel in the first round and came out swinging in the second round, landing a few combinations before knocking Montiel to the canvas with another left hook.
Montiel surprisingly made it back to his feet only to have the referee stop the fight moments later.
"I needed to be strong but it was the speed that was the key. He left himself open and that gave me the advantage," the new champion said. "I was surprised he got up after I landed that flush shot."
Donaire has won 25 consecutive fights, improving his record to 26-1 with 18 knockouts.
"I just came out there believing in what I had," he said. "I want to be undisputed in this weight class, if not I want to go up in weight."
Montiel dropped to 44-3-2 (34 KOs).
"I knew we both had the punching power to knock each other out," he said. "I made the first mistake and I paid for it."
In the co-main event, American Mike Jones remained undefeated with a unanimous decision against Jesus Soto Karass of Mexico in a rematch of their controversial fight last November. Jones pulled off a majority decision in that bout, which many thought could have gone either way.
Jones cut Soto Karass over both eyes in the third round Saturday on his way to a 115-113, 116-112, 117-111 victory.
On the undercard, welterweight prospect Mark Melligen earned a unanimous decision win over Gabriel Martinez and Mickey Bey and Jose Hernandez fought to a majority draw.
Yordenis Ugas and Mike Alvarado also earned victories in the preliminary fights.
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