June 25th, 2006 - The appetizer turned out to be the main course at Caesar’s Palace Saturday night, as unbeaten Welterweights, Joel Julio of Columbia (27-1, 24 KO’s) and Carlos Quintana (23-0, 18 KO’s) of Puerto Rico battled it out in a 12 round, WBA eliminator bout.

There was never a dull moment in this one as the favorite, Julio, landed a big right hand in the first round that staggered Quintana backwards, his hand touching the canvas. It was ruled a knockdown. Quintana was not to be discouraged though and from round two on, Quintana showed his quality, as he out boxed and out classed Julio with superior overall boxing skills, winning a Unanimous Decision by scores of 115-112, 117-111 and 118-110. I scored it 116-112 for Quintana. With this victory, Quintana earned the right to face the winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Oktay Urkal. Hatton didn’t look so good against legitimate, 147-pounder, Luis Collazo, who I thought won the fight but didn’t get the Decision for his display of superior boxing skills that night. Hatton is probably better suited to fight at 140 instead of 147. Quintana, who looks mighty comfortable at 147, is an excellent boxer-puncher and will be a very tough proposition for either Urkal or Hatton.

Joel Julio may have lost this fight but I think he has gained quality experience from it. You can’t knock everyone out. Sometimes, you just got to win rounds. This was a good loss and will make Julio a better fighter. I wouldn’t write him off any time soon. Carlos Quintana, the man from Moca, has a good chin, good defense, nice footwork and a killer instinct. I’m eager to see how both guys do in the future.

The Main Event was a lack luster, twelve round Heavyweight bout featuring North Carolina native, Calvin Brock (29-0, 22 KO’s) taking on unbeaten Eastern European Prospect, Timor Ibragimov (21-1-1, 13 KO’s).

Brock was steady and plodding in his approach. He scored the better punches, often with his right hand and always took the initiative in the closing moments of rounds. The absence of a consistent jab made Calvin’s job harder and a lot less appealing for the fans in attendance. Ibragimov had faster hands but was too slow to unleash his offense, focusing on defense and a lot of holding throughout twelve rounds.

Timur has faced Calvin Brock in the past, as a sparring partner. He looked like a sparring partner Saturday night, doing just enough to survive rounds and not leaving much to talk about. The only exciting moments in this fight were authored by Brock’s right hand. He rarely used his jab. To Brock’s credit, he did work the body when he did jab. It was a long fight, short on being entertaining.

Brock won a Unanimous Decision by scores of 115-113, 117-111 and 119-109. I scored it 119-109 for Brock. Though Brock won the fight, he didn’t seem to win any new fans as the crowd booed repeatedly throughout the fight for lack of excitement.

During the post fight interview, Brock was asked about the boo’s from the crowd. Brock said he doesn’t listen to that because when he’s in the ring, he’s in his office, where he is in charge. He credited Ibragimov for being a good fighter who was also an unbeaten fighter. Until now.

Calvin Brock has some good qualities, solid power, credible boxing skills and reliable stamina. My main criticism is that he doesn’t use his jab enough. When he did jab, he was effective at setting up his combinations as well as being better able to avoid the constant clinches of Ibragimov.

There’s a difference between just winning fights and being a Star in the fight game. If Brock wants to sell tickets, he needs to be more than methodical fighter that wins. He needs to be explosive. Boxing is about entertainment and fans want to see action, not just a boring display of basic, slow paced boxing.

Calvin needs to pick up his pace, work his jab more and demonstrate the power of his cannons. His balance is odd for a man that Tap dances. He would be more exciting to watch if he added some fluid movement to his footwork. Styles do make fights though, and Ibragimov’s constant clinching was hard to look good against. Still a work in progress, Calvin Brock looked a bit stiff Saturday night, though he managed to easily put another W in the bank.

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