Miguel Montilla fought in Panama, the United States Virgin Islands and Colombia.
18 Facts About Miguel Montilla
1.
2.
Miguel Montilla's next fight was not only his first fight in the United States but his first victory as a professional boxer and his first knockout.
3.
Miguel Montilla lasted the ten rounds distance but lost by unanimous decision at the Miami Marine Stadium in Key Biscayne, Florida.
4.
Miguel Montilla was, after his victory over Arredondo, the WBA's number one Junior Welterweight challenger.
5.
On Thursday, January 18,1979, Miguel Montilla challenged WBA world Junior Welterweight champion, the legendary, future International Boxing Hall of Fame member Antonio Cervantes of Colombia, 60 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw coming in, at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
6.
Miguel Montilla won four fights in a row following the defeat in New York to Cervantes.
7.
One of them was an important victory over fellow Cervantes world championship challenger, Adriano Marrero, whom Miguel Montilla beat on Wednesday, August 15,1979, to lift the Dominican Republic's national Junior Welterweight title, thus making Miguel Montilla a two division national champion.
8.
In March 1980, Miguel Montilla flew to Colombia, where on Saturday, March 29 of that year, he challenged Cervantes, by now 62 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw in 73 professional contests, again for the Colombian's WBA world Junior Welterweight championship.
9.
The second time around, the crafty Colombian was better adapted to Montilla's style and he dominated Montilla, building a substantial lead on the three scorecards before Montilla was stopped in round seven, losing by technical knockout at Cartagena's Plaza de Toros bullring.
10.
Miguel Montilla recovered from the second loss to Cervantes by taking on Gerardo Farias, a limited fighter with a record of 4 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw, in Santo Domingo on Friday, June 25,1980.
11.
On December 6,1980, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, Miguel Montilla lost a ten-rounds unanimous decision to 11 wins, 0 losses prospect Dujuan Johnson as part of an undercard headlined by a Thomas Hearns WBA world Welterweight title defense against Luis Primera.
12.
Miguel Montilla gave Pryor a tough test but was already well behind on the scorecards when the match was stopped in round twelve, Pryor retaining the title by a technical knockout, 42 seconds into that round.
13.
Miguel Montilla fought only three more times after the loss to Pryor; he lost two oif those fights.
14.
Miguel Montilla was going to earn $40,000 dollars for that outing.
15.
Miguel Montilla retired a winner, as he beat the 2 wins, 5 losses Emilio Sotomayor by a first-round knockout on Wednesday, January 19,1983, at the same stadium he debuted at, the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a program headlined by the WBA world Junior Lightweight championship bout between champion Samuel Serrano of Puerto Rico and challenger Roger Mayweather of the United States.
16.
Miguel Montilla settled in the American city of New York.
17.
Miguel Montilla went on live radio to dispel the rumors and prove he is still alive.
18.
In 2015, Miguel Montilla was selected to the Dominican Republic National Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first athlete from his native Neiba to be given such honor.