By Cliff Rold
Carlos Quintana is no Shane Mosley.
Even if Quintana were the same caliber of fighter, and he’s not, he most certainly is not the same level of name. There are certain older guys in any era any young titlist should want on their resume if they can get them. Mosley, reigning today as the WBA Welterweight beltholder and a three division champ in his career, is one of those older guys right now.
Andre Berto is the young titlist of note at Welterweight today. Berto-Mosley was slated for this past January but the awful earthquake in Haiti, the country Berto represented at the 2004 Olympics as a dual citizen based in the U.S., touched the Berto family.
The young man pulled out, Mosley has moved on to boxing’s most anticipated fight of 2010 (so far) with Floyd Mayweather, and so it’s Quintana.
He’s not Mosley.
He is a former title holder at Welterweight, the only man to hold a win over the excellent Paul Williams, and a veteran with nothing to lose.
That’s good enough to give Berto plenty to worry about.
Let’s go to the report card.
The Ledgers
Andre Berto
Age: 26
Current Title: WBC Welterweight (2008-Present, 3 Defenses)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’8 ½
Weight: 146.5 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 145.8 lbs.
Hails from: Winterhaven, Florida
Record: 25-0, 19 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 4-0, 1 KO
BoxingScene Rank: #6 at Welterweight
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 3 (Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo, Juan Urango)
Vs.
Carlos Quintana
Age: 33
Title: None
Previous Titles: WBO Welterweight (2008)
Height: 5’9 ½
Weight: 146.5 lbs.
Average Weight - Five Most Recent Fights: 149.15 lbs.
Hails from: Moca, Puerto Rico
Record: 27-2, 21 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-2, 2 KOBY
BoxingScene Rank: #9 at Welterweight
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Paul Williams)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 2 (Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams)
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Berto A; Quintana B
Pre-Fight: Power – Berto B; Quintana B
Pre-Fight: Defense – Berto B; Quintana B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Berto B+; Quintana B
The obvious advantage for Berto will be hand speed, a pure athletic advantage he holds over most of the sport right now. Quintana is a skilled veteran who has shown in the past that he can compensate for lesser speed with an educated right jab, lead hook and well timed left hands from his southpaw stance.
Hampering him this weekend could be a rash of inactivity and the weight limit of the fight. Since being stopped in the opening round of the Paul Williams rematch in June 2008, Quintana hasn’t had to squeeze down to 147 lbs. and has fought only twice. Berto, who has been laid off since last May, is quick enough and young enough that, even if his timing is off early, he should still be landing and getting off first. Quintana, whose game will rely more on timing, could find himself in a bad way if he’s in a hole early working off rust.
In terms of defense, both men are hittable but Quintana may have a slight advantage. He’s patient and can use angles. Berto blocks well but his head movement has been a liability in the past and could be again. In his toughest night to date, against another southpaw in Luis Collazo, Berto was tagged repeatedly and rocked by a Collazo not known for heavy hands. Quintana appears to hit harder and, while more of a counter puncher than Collazo, can get Berto in trouble.
If he does, Berto has shown he can weather. He came off the canvas while still developing against Cosme Rivera and did good work. He weathered storms against Collazo and fought back hard. He may not have a granite chin, but he’s not shy about mixing it up.
Quintana has shown the confidence to play spoiler. He laid waste to the credentials of Joel Julio when he was a star in the making, craftily outpointing him. He outthought Paul Williams the first time. If he has a problem here, it’s that past experience has shown he doesn’t do as well as Berto has when hurt. Miguel Cotto jumped on him right away and Quintana never got in the fight. Williams blitzed him in their rematch. If he doesn’t have Berto hesitating early on, can he avoid being run over?
The Pick
A cynic could look at Berto’s removal from the Mosley fight as an economic convenience. They could see he shares an advisor with Floyd Mayweather in Al Haymon, count the zeros which make up the difference between a Mosley-Berto fight and a Mosley-Mayweather fight, and draw negative conclusions.
Berto is a credit to the game because he defies such cynicism. He comes across as a young man of character in and out of the ring. Walking away from the biggest chance of his professional life in the wake of the Haitian earthquake tragedy smacked of the same sort of guts he’s shown in the ring when pushed so far.
It smacks of imminent success this weekend.
Quintana is good; Berto is better and the maturity he showed earlier this year is the same maturity that will allow him to approach Quintana without feeling let down. He should know he did the right thing outside the ring and then go do the right things in it.
Those right things will include learning from the Collazo fight, marking up the face of Quintana with jabs and steady right hands, and landing enough hard stuff to the body to warrant a corner stoppage in the late rounds on Saturday.
Cliff’s Notes…
For those wondering why the interim WBA Featherweight title contest between formerly unified WBA/IBF 122 lb. titlist Celestino Caballero (33-2, 23 KO) and Daud Yordan (25-0, 19 KO) isn’t getting a report card treatment, the answer is simple:
Not enough Yordan.
In other words, enough was seen when Yordan fought last year against Robert Guerrero to know he’s a serious pro. That, less than two full rounds, was all the author has seen of the Indonesian and it’s not enough to make an educated pick.
That said, it’s enough to know the televised undercard of Berto-Quintana is worth tuning in for to make Saturday a quality night of fighting.
Report Card Picks 2010: 10-2
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
