By Matthew Hurley: In the aftermath of Kermit Cintron’s shaky victory over Jesse Feliciano it was revealed that the IBF welterweight title holder had injured his right hand. Although Cintron had been on an upswing, coming off a devastating knockout of Walter Matthysse in the second round, the injury may have hurt WBO welterweight titlist Paul Williams even more. The two fighters were supposed to square off in a unification bout in February and after Cintron’s anemic performance against Feliciano, Williams was champing at the bit to get the ‘Killer’ in the ring.
With the fight indefinitely postponed Williams was left with few options for the February date, which was to be broadcast on HBO’s ‘World Championship Boxing’. As potential opponents were being discussed for the freakishly tall Williams his promoter Dan Goossen was most concerned with simply keeping his fighter busy. The fighters being discussed included Zab Judah, Luis Collazo and Joshua Clottey. The task eventually fell to Carlos Quintana.
Williams, 33-0 with 24 KOs and Quintana, 24-1 with 19 KOs will fight on February 9th. The bout will be broadcast on HBO’s ‘Boxing After Dark’ and will include an undercard featuring welterweight Andre Berto. Berto’s opponent has yet to be determined.
The card found itself being put together after the highly anticipated Juan Diaz – Michael Katsidis lightweight bout became entangled in a dispute between Diaz promoter Don King, the promotional firm Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) and HBO. GBP won the purse bid at $1.5 million for the bout but King who has one fight remaining on his contract with Diaz pointed out to HBO that a clause in the fighter’s contract precludes him from fighting under the banner of another promotional firm. With the prospect of legal action HBO immediately pulled out thus freeing up the February 9th date.
Lou Dibella, Quintana’s promoter, sees a golden opportunity for his fighter.
“We like the fight,” he told ESPN.com. “The only time he lost, he got drilled by (Miguel) Cotto. Being drilled by Cotto is nothing to be embarrassed by. Carlos is one of the better welterweights in the world and he’s a terrific opponent for Paul Williams on ‘Boxing After Dark.’ The show is an opportunity to see perhaps the two best young welterweights in the world, Williams and Berto, and it’s an opportunity for Quintana because if he can pull of an upset, he puts himself in position for a major fight.”
One would think that fighting the talented WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams is in itself a major fight!