The first time two girls tried that, when she was attending the Mid-High, Montaño socked one attacker in the face and then successfully fought off the other one.
Both of her attackers were girls. Apparently, they didn’t like this new kid at the Mid-High, who had previously been attending Hope Christian School in Albuquerque.
 Hannah "Hurricane" Montano is a typical fight pose. |
“To me, it fit her: powerful and devastating,” her father, Michael Montaño, explained.
“It does describe the way I fight,” this 16-year-old Hurricane said.
He’s a former Duke City boxer, who enjoyed some success in the ring back in the 1980s and now trains his daughter. He and his wife Cindy moved to Rio Rancho because of its affordable housing 23 years ago.
Their little girl once tried playing coed T-ball, her father recalled, and “she quit.”
“I was in basketball and I was too aggressive,” his daughter added, admitting she’s a tomboy but can be girly at times.
Hannah Montaño’s first two amateur fights, as this one will be, ended in second-round knockouts.
“We’re hoping for another knockout,” said her dad, during a recent workout in the garage of their Rio Rancho home. Nearby are dumbbells, a speed bag and a heavy bag. Hannah seemingly enjoys knocking her father around, as well as running up sand dunes on the mesa, plus push-ups and sit-ups. She thinks she gets her strength from punching.
The 16-year-old Rio Rancho High School sophomore climbs between the ropes Friday night at Santa Ana Star Center as part of promoter Juan Romero’s “Black Friday” card.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “They’ve got an opponent for me and it’s an honor to fight at the Santa Ana Star Center.”
It’d be an honor to improve her ring record to 3-0, too, in what is slated to be a three-round bout, with each round lasting two minutes.
That might not be easy. Her opponent, Jessica Garcia (9-1) is older, taller, weighs about five pounds more than her, has two state belts and knows a little something about Montaño because the two have sparred before.
“I’m the underdog, but that’s OK,” she said. “It makes me train harder. I don’t think she’ll knock me out because I have a pretty solid chin,” Hannah said. “I’ve never been dazed.”
Her father was probably the first one to try that.
“She came up to me and said she wanted to box,” he said. “We put the gloves on. I gave her one shot to the nose. She had tears in her eyes, but she kept coming at me. She has some ability. I would never have done it, so that’s why I had to test her out first. She has a lot of power and a lot of heart.”
Hannah also trains at Albuquerque Kickboxing and does mixed-martial arts under the supervision of Ray Yee.
“She hits hard,” says Sal Mora, owner of newmexicocombatsports.com.
“Some guys can't handle her power and go 100 percent in sparring with her. If she stays dedicated to the sport, she will be a world champion when she becomes a pro. … The titles will not be on the line at this event, but win, lose or draw, Hannah will receive a title shot in early 2009 against the same girl.”
“I want to win this fight. That’s all I want for Christmas,” she said, knowing she’ll have to watch what she eats on Thanksgiving.
A victory the next day will be her dessert.
By the way, Hurricane Hannah doesn’t plan to make this a career or become the next Holly Holm.
Maintaining a grade-point average of 3.1 at RRHS, where her favorite class is math, Montaño said she’d like to be a doctor someday, preferably working as an anesthesiologist.
Also on Friday’s card, to be televised live on Telefutura, are Ray Sanchez III, Rio Rancho fighter Lucas Galle, headliner Miguel Angel Huerta (27-9-1 with 18 knockouts), Jordan Romero (16-2-1, 11 KOs), Sammy DiPace (4-0, 3 KOs) of Las Cruces who fights Alex Garcia (5-5, 4 KOs) of Laredo, Texas, Archie Ray Marquez of Seboyeta, and David Proa and Sammy Piar of Albuquerque.
Tickets start at $22. For more information, visit gettix.net.
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