By Rafael Soto

 

Throughout a career that has spanned nearly two decades, Mexico's Fernando "Kochulito" Montiel has faced great challenges, and this Wednesday will be one of the biggest when he challenges Lee Selby for the IBF featherweight championship.

The contest will be the co-feature to the Premier Boxing Champions card at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, which has capacity for 18,300 fans. The fight will be broadcast by ESPN.

The fight between Montiel and Selby has attracted more attention than the main event between former world champion Devon Alexander "The Great" (26-3, 14 KO's) and Mexico's Aron Martinez (19-4-1, 4 KOs).

Montiel, who closed strong preparation this past Friday in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, participated Sunday in a public workout in Phoenix, Arizona, and on Monday he will participate in the final press conference for the fight.

"I am very motivated. I made an excellent preparation and I'm coming into the fight without any injury thanks to God. I'm ready to meet this challenge," said Montiel, who had a preparation of 14 weeks at the Gym Kochul in Los Mochis.

Montiel (54-4-2, 39 KOs) will look to prove something against Selby (21-1, 8 KOs), who is eight years younger. The Mexican veteran wants to make it clear that he still has the potential to rub shoulders with the best in the featherweight division.

"Selby is a great fighter for the division. He handles the distance well, he throws a lot of punches, maybe not with a lot of power but he's very quick and also he moves very well in the ring," Montiel said.