TalkingBoxing Articles
On Second Thought; Quintana Emerges as New Dark Horse at Welterweight
MON February 11, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - Prior to his title losing effort on Saturday night, WBO 147 lb. 
titlist Paul Williams and his team had grand plans. They had many options. They could have remained active in an effort to build a groundswell for a huge matchup with either Miguel Cotto or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Or they could have been selective and waited their turn in hopes of landing a coronating fight. In a division as deep as the 147 lb. welterweight class, options are plentiful. The one thing they did not account for was the danger that any of the top 10 welterweight pose within the limits of the squared circle.
The truth is that in that squared circle at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, CA, Williams did not live up to the hype surrounding him in the weeks and months leading up to this fight. He’d have been favored to beat IBF 147 lb. titlist Kermit Cintron had that fight not been called off due to a hand injury suffered by Cintron in a late November tuneup with Jessie Feliciano. Williams would have been favored to defeat former division champion Zab Judah had Judah been available to take the fight.
Williams was a substantial favorite to win his fight with WBO #10 rated contender Carlos Quintana on Saturday night. The problem was that he was decisively beaten and must now go back to the gym to regroup. It has become cliché to proclaim that a fighter has been exposed immediately following his first loss. The truth is that Williams always had flaws that people were willing to mitigate because of his incredible height, 6’2”, and reach, 82”, for a welterweight. Consider that he is also a talented southpaw and one can guess why he was heavily favored despite his technical flaws.
Quintana swept the first two rounds by allowing Williams to lead then countering by winging accurate overhand left counter punches to great affect. Williams made a slight adjustment by pushing his challenger back and running shots downstairs in round three. In rounds four and five Quintana went back exploiting Williams’ technical flaws. Quintana punched between Williams and threw the champion off his rhythm by timing Williams’ lazy jabs and awkward lead rights. Quintana continued to score consistently and effectively with overhand lefts.
Clearly sensing that the fight was slipping through his hands, Williams began pushing Quintana back to the ropes with his jab and outworking the challenger on the inside during the sixth round. In rounds seven and eight, Williams began to unveil his signature work rate and overwhelmed the Puerto Rican challenger with his non stop punching motion. The key punch that swung the momentum was a tight right hook that countered Quintana’s telegraphed overhand lefts.
The trend continued through the first half of the ninth round, but Quintana gamely mounted a comeback. He angled to Williams’ right side and shot quick left crosses between Williams’ flurries. In the tenth and eleventh Quintana began to work his own right hook on the inside and was able to stem the flow of punches coming back in return by landing clean effective shots on Williams and stunting Williams’ offensive bursts.
Though Williams did find his rhythm in the 12th round while Quintana seemed to be fighting to preserve his lead, it was far too little too late to retain his title. Quintana won by scores of 116 – 112 (twice) and 115 – 113. The immediate impact of this result is that it puts any dreams of matching Williams against the likes of Cotto or Mayweather on indefinite, if not permanent, hold. It also solidifies Quintana’s position amongst the elite contenders for Mayweather’s 147 lb. crown.
In the card’s co-feature, 2004 Olympian and WBC #1/IBF #2 147 lb. contender Andre Berto stopped veteran fringe contender Michel Trabant after six one-sided rounds to run his record to 21 – 0. Berto displayed impressive hand speed and power in completely overwhelming his German counterpart. This fight was highlighted by an impressive uppercut by Berto in the second round and Berto’s hard hooks to the body throughout the fight.
While it’s hard to justify Berto’s lofty rankings within two of the major sanctioning organizations, he did handle his much more experienced opponent with ease. He is a star in promoter Lou DiBella’s stable and fights in a very deep division. Couple that with his newly inked multi-fight HBO deal and we can expect more from Berto throughout the remainder of the calendar year.
Holt Wins, Martirosyan Blitzes Overmatch Foe
World class 140 lb. contender Kendall Holt returned to his winning ways by defeating veteran fringe contender and former world title challenger Ben Tackie over 10 uneventful rounds at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV last Thursday night on the Versus network. Holt displayed keen ring generalship if not a killer instinct in dictating a moderate pace and keeping the hard charging Tackie as the end of his jab and landing enough significant flush right crosses to win the majority of the rounds. Holt landed more flush shots as the fight wore on and swept through the second half of the fight based on clean punching.
Tackie’s best rounds were rounds three and five when he was able to occasionally corner Holt long enough to land his looping overhand rights. For the most part, though, Holt controlled the pace of the fight and had his way. Final scores were 98 – 92 (twice) and 95 – 95. The win keeps Holt in contention for a rematch with WBO 140 lb. titlist Ricardo Torres after their controversial fight last October. If a deal for that rematch cannot be worked out then Holt still remains a viable challenger for any the current titlists at 140 lbs.
2004 US Olympian Vanes Martirosyan opened the show with a one-sided beatdown of “Michi” Munoz. From the opening bell, Martirosyan used his physical advantages and superior technique to dominate his overmatched foe. Martirosyan put Munoz down just over a minute into the first with a counter left hook. He continued to pile on against his overmatched foe in the second. Then Munoz took a knee midway through the third round and when action resumed Martirosyan lined him up behind the jab and began teeing off with one-twos and even mixed in an uppercut eventually prompting referee Kenny Bayless to call a halt to the bout at 2:20 of the round.
Though he is only 21 years old, Martirosyan has proven over his last half dozen outings that he is ready to challenge fringe contenders who have more to offer in return. The fight with Munoz was Martirosyan’s first scheduled 10 rounder and could conceivably be considered a step up, but Munoz definitely proved to be an inferior caliber fighter. One can only hope that Martirosyan, now 19 – 0, will be matched with fringe contenders and even game and experienced veterans in the coming months.
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