Cotto Wrecks Quintana In Five

By Frank Gonzalez Jr. - Sharkie’s Machine - Photo: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME.

Saturday night, winter said hello with some icy wind on a cold, clear night, but inside the Broadwalk Hall in Atlantic City NJ, a heated battle was on the menu as former 140-pound World Champion, Miguel Cotto (28-0, 23 KO’s) of Caguas battled fellow Puerto Rican, Carlos Quintana (23-1, 18 KO’s) of Moca, for the vacant WBA Welterweight Title.

Quintana has good mobility and tenacious boxing skills, as demonstrated in his recent win over the then unbeaten prospect, Joel Julio. Quintana’s experience level isn’t close to Cotto’s but the boy has some skills worthy of recognition. He had some early success countering, landing and taking some good shots but he got rocked with a Cotto ‘signature left hook’ that blasted him cleanly to the liver—making it an early night, after five exciting rounds.

We know what Cotto brings to the ring, good boxing skills, ferocious bodywork and a calm approach to the sweet science. In his last fight, against a very game Paul Malignaggi, Cotto showed his power and busted up a very mobile and technically astute opponent. Cotto seems to move in slow motion at times, while imposing the tempo of a fight and striking when the
moment is right. Against the mobile Quintana, Cotto pressed the action and was able to cut off the ring and land those body shots that do so much damage. He looks real comfortable at 147.

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The Fight

Round 1
They felt each other out a bit, Quintana move active, Cotto pressing but neither doing much punching. During an exchange, the elusive Quintana tried to slip away from a Cotto barrage and Cotto pushed him into the ropes. Quintana’s mobility enabled him to counter Cotto, who landed less but with more authority. I thought it was an even round as neither guy outdid the other. Even.

Round 2
Cotto becomes the counter puncher and lands a few. Quintana moved so much he was wasting too much energy for too small a reward. Cotto was the more effective. 10-9 Cotto.

Round 3
Cotto appeared more relaxed as the tempo was taking a tone he favored. Quintana punched and moved. Quintana landed a low blow and was warned. Cotto took a short moment, while the crowd booed. Quintana managed to outwork Cotto and land more but Cotto’s were the harder punches. 10-9 Quintana.

Round 4
Lots of action as Quintana and Cotto trade punches and both have good moments. Quintana’s face starting to show signs of Cotto’s punches, particularly by his right eye. Cotto cut off the ring but missed with his volley of punches as Quintana’s speedy reflexes translated into good defense. Tough round to score. Even.

Round 5
Cotto focused his attack on Quintana’s right eye, landing a trio of left hooks right on it. Cotto changed up to Southpaw and suddenly he couldn’t miss as he rocked Quintana, whose face was swelling fast. Cotto took charge with his power and as they jockeyed at center ring, Cotto landed a clean left hook to the body (on the liver) and Quintana went down. When action
resumed, Cotto went for the kill, throwing a barrage of shots, landing a couple and sending Quintana back down to the canvas. He barely beat the count and did what he could to survive the remaining seconds of the fifth round. 10-7 Cotto.

In the corner of Carlos Quintana, things were looking bleak. His trainer stood over him saying, “Gimme one more round. One more round!” Quintana didn’t look interested. Quintana told his corner he didn’t have anything left. Pain can do that to you.

Finally, referee Steve Smoger approached Quintana, asked if he wanted to continue and then waved the fight off. It was over. Cotto was the winner by TKO 5.

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Though he lost, Carlos Quintana has much to benefit from this experience and I look forward to seeing him fight again.

Next up for Cotto will be the WBA’s mandatory challenger, Oktay Urkal (38-3-0, 12 KO’s). God only knows why.

Urkal’s last two opponents, Robert Cristea (1-8, 1 KO) and Andrei Rimer (2-4, 2 KO’s) have zero bearing on the 147-pound division in any way whatsoever. What corruption renders Urkal the mandatory challenger for a shot at the WBA Welterweight Title is beyond my understanding. Though Urkal is tough, he’s never beaten a premium fighter. We can all think of plenty of
other fighters in the division far more worthy of this honor. Its obvious that Urkal hasn’t ‘worked his way up the ladder of contenders’ to get this positioning in the WBA. Whatever happened to sports being a meritocracy?

I’d like to see Miguel Cotto fight other top dogs in the division instead of fading also-rans like Urkal. What most fans want to see is Cotto against the likes of WBC Champ, Floyd Mayweather Jr., WBO Champ, Antonio Margarito or IBF Champ, Kermit Cintron, all of whom would be worthier match ups than Urkal. If there’s going to be a mandatory match up, why not a rising star like Paul Williams, or even Luis Collazo, who proved Ricky Hatton unprepared for the rigors of the Welterweight division.

Congratulations to Miguel Cotto, who has consistently fought top rated competition, remains unbeaten and has always been a class act. His gracious behavior is refreshing in a sport that too often emphasizes the negative aspects of self-promotion.

TOP RANK Warriors, burn up the Boardwalk in Atlantic City

Mike Cassell, The Philadelphia Boxing Report - Atlantic City NJ - In a boxing era where business sense is the only thing on the minds of most promoters, Bob Arum has proven time and time again, that great match ups will be the only true cure for professional boxing. In what can only be described, as a scene out of Rocky, four incredibly tough and talented fighters, really put everything out there, to give boxing fans their money’s worth. WBO welter weight champion, Antonio Margarito 33-4-1, with 24 KO’s, battled the rugged Ghanaian fighter, Joshua Clottey 30-1-1, 20 KO’s. I thought this fight would be a toe to toe slugfest, but I had no idea the amount of heart of these two warriors.

Clottey came out early; he was much faster than I thought. He landed devastating right hands, and left uppercuts to the jaw of Margarito, in the early rounds. By round four, it was dead even on our cards, but Clottey seemed to favor his left hand, as he walked back to his corner. He was landing his left hook at will on Margarito, and it seemed as if he was really hurt. From that point on, Clottey tried to stay in the fight, as Margarito sensed his weakness, and like any good fighter, attacked, then attacked some more. To Clottey’s credit, he began to retreat, but his “tribal pride” would not let him. He came to fight, and he came to win, and it became a war of will and skill.

By the 12th round, Margarito, although battered and tired, finished the fight, with a true champion’s heart. The Philadelphia Boxing Report had the fight 116 – 112 Margarito. The three judges’ ringside had it, 118 – 109, 116 – 112, 116 – 112, all for Margarito.

If they had an extra score for heart and determination, both of these guys would have received a 10.

Clottey had this to say after the fight:

“Margarito can take a big punch. I hit him very hard, but he never hurt me. I hurt my hand badly in about the 4th round. I was not hurt at all; I just couldn’t fight back, because of my hand. I did my best. I will abide by the judges ruling, but I know I hit him good. I would love to fight him again; I know I can beat him!

Margarito was not immediately available after the fight.

In the main event, arguably one of the pound for pound, best fighters in the world, Miguel Cotto 27-0,22KO’s battled Carlos “El Indio” Quintana 23-0, 18 KO’s, in what was named, “the battle for Puerto Rico”. Boardwalk hall was flowing with Puerto Rican pride, as both fighters put everything out there, for the WBA welterweight championship of the world. Cotto may be the most exciting fighter since Floyd Mayweather. He is quick, rugged, tough and smart.

He brought his Gatti like mentality, back to Boardwalk Hall, against the very solid, undefeated Carlos Qunitana. Cotto’s brute strength and power were the real factors in his decisive victory over Quintana. Cotto came out strong, winning the first two rounds, seemingly surprising the undefeated southpaw, with his speed and ring portability. In round 3, Quintana realized he would have to slug it out with Cotto, or lose this championship shot.

By round 5 it became painfully apparent to Quintana, that Cotto’s strength was just too overpowering, as Cotto landed a viscous liver punch, dropping Quintana to the floor. Quintana was wincing in tremendous pain, reminiscent of De La Hoya/ Hopkins. The big difference on this night was, Quintana, very seriously hurt, actually made it to his feet to continue. He was knocked down a second time, and still got up on the count of 9. By the end of the round, Quintana staggered back to his corner, and collapsed into his stool.

Referee Steve Smoger, could see the pain flowing through Quintana’s body, through the eyes and body language of the fighter. Quintana could not come out for the 6th round. Although his record will not reflect it, Quintana was a winner last night. He did everything he could, to beat Cotto, but just did not have enough in his arsenal to do it. Everybody has a plan, until they get hit, and his had to go out the window, once he was faced, with the raw power and energy of the champion Miguel Cotto. When asked if he thought he was now, the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Cotto had this to say.

“It is not for me to decide. It is up to the writers, and fans. I know what I can do, but something like that is to be decided by the world, not me”

Spoken like a true champion……