by James Slater – Boxing in the talent-rich 147-pound division, former title holders Kermit Cintron and Carlos Quintana are in action on a doubleheader in Puerto Rico on October 24th. Both fighters are, of course, Puerto Rican, and both exciting warriors will look to keep busy against reasonable competition as they await another crack at a major belt. Cintron, known as “The Killer,” will meet the little-known Juliano Ramos of Brazil, and Quintana, nicknamed “El Indio,” will square off with Jesse Feliciano of the U.S..
30-year-old Ramos, 15-2(12) is coming in off an August 2008 loss – a 6th-round TKO at the hands of Mike Jones – and there are no real notable victories on the Brazilian’s record. Stopped just the one time, Ramos has not been too active recently. He only had the one fight last year, and Ramos only had two fights in 2007. In all likelihood, Cintron, now 31-2-1(27) and coming off a fine points win over the dangerous Alfredo Angulo in May (up at 154) is in for an easy night. The former interim WBO and former IBF welterweight ruler is looking good at age 29 – although his fight before Angulo, when he was given an underserved draw Vs. Sergio Martinez, was not one of his best showings – and a quick win looks likely for October 24th.
Cintron against a good number of the top welterweights would be interesting, and it will be also be interesting to see if Kermit remains at 147. Look for him to have no problems against Ramos, stopping him before the halfway stage.
Quintana, too, faces a guy he should have no real trouble with, in the returning Jesse Feliciano, 15-7-3(9). Although the heart and guts of the 27-year-old from Las Vegas is well known to all those fans who saw his last two fights. Taking hellacious punishment against Cintron in late 2007, and then against Andrey Tsurkan last April (losing both fights by late TKO) Feliciano showed what he’s made of. But at what cost?
32-year-old Quintana, 26-2(20) may not be a big puncher, but it’s tough to see how the gutsy yet limited Feliciano can beat the southpaw. After upsetting Paul “The Punisher” Williams to grab the WBO welterweight title, Quintana has had mixed fortunes – being blown away by Williams in the return fight, and then stopping an overmatched Joshua Onyango in his last fight, back in October of last year.
Both Quintana and Feliciano will be fighting again after a considerable amount of time out of action. The rest, in the case of Feliciano, was not taken by choice though. Nobody knows how the two hammerings he took in his last two fights hurt him, but Feliciano, unless he gets lucky, will not have enough to defeat even a rusty Quintana. Look for the former WBO champ to pound out either a clear decision or a late stoppage.
Both bouts on October 24th are scheduled for 10-rounds.