By CompuBox

WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto knew even before Saturday’s fight with Carlos Quintana that he had to overcome adversity. After all, he canceled his January 30 unification showdown with WBA counterpart Shane Mosley because the emotional challenges of losing eight family members to the Haiti earthquakes were understandably too much to bear.

But once the bell rang Berto faced a new set of problems. Quintana’s southpaw stance and defensive maneuvers didn’t mesh well with Berto’s fast-twitch explosions and his tendency to fall into clinches. Also, Berto suffered an injury to his left biceps early in the fight.

Through seven rounds, Quintana held a slight lead on the CompuBox stats as he led 136-134 in total connects and 99-81 in landed power punches. The former WBO champ out-landed Berto in overall punches in four rounds and he led Berto five times in power connects, amassing leads of 50-42 (overall) and 36-23 (power) in the sixth and seventh alone. The momentum was turning toward the challenger, leaving some to wonder whether Berto had come back too soon.

Then came the explosive eighth.

Once Berto finally found his perfect punching distance and began teeing off, there was nothing Quintana could do to stop him. Berto connected on a blistering 38 of 68 (56 percent), including 70 percent of his 46 power punches, to stop Quintana at the 2:16 mark. Quintana tried to hold Berto at bay, but his 10 of 25 output (40 percent) and 4 of 11 power punches (36 percent) could only do so much.

Berto’s burst allowed him to pull ahead in the overall statistics. Berto landed 172 of 452 overall (38 percent) to Quintana’s 146 of 444 (33 percent), 59 of 225 jabs (26 percent) to Quintana’s 43 of 185 (23 percent) and 113 of 227 power shots (50 percent) to Quintana’s 103 of 259 (40 percent).

The PunchZone chart showed that Berto’s damage was mainly to the head as they constituted 151 of his 172 connects. Interestingly, Berto’s injured left produced the most head connects with 82 while the right logged 38. Thirty-one head connects targeted the chin. Also, of Berto’s 21 body connects, 14 were achieved with the left, confirming just how effectively Berto can fight through pain.

Quintana’s PunchZone profile was similarly balanced as 108 of his 146 connects targeted Berto’s head, but his distribution was more diverse as the left logged 41 connects, the right 39 connects and 28 landed on the chin. Of his 38 body connects, the southpaw left registered 27.

*

In the co-feature, Celestino Caballero registered the third highest featherweight punch output ever recorded by CompuBox at ringside against previously unbeaten Indonesian Daud Yordan in registering a comprehensive 12 round decision. Caballaero’s 1,248 punches (104 per round) was only exceeded by Manuel Medina’s 1,466 against Johnny Tapia in 2002 and 1,394 against Paul Ingle in 1999.

Caballero landed 325 times overall, connecting on 82 of his 662 jabs (12 percent) and 243 of his 586 power punches (41 percent). The shorter Yordan proved his valor by enduring Caballero’s attack without yielding, but he simply couldn’t find a way past the Panamanian’s buzz saw attack. For the record, Yordan went 105 of 379 overall (28 percent), 8 of 66 in jabs (12 percent) and 97 of 313 in power shots (31 percent).

Caballero surpassed the 100-punch mark eight times in the first nine rounds before decelerating to 93, 99 and 90 in the final three rounds. The jab was extraordinarily busy as he averaged 55.2 per round – more than twice the featherweight average of 22.5 – and his 48.8 power attempts and 20.2 power connects per round was 29 percent and 36 percent higher than the divisional norm.

Meanwhile, Yordan hit double-digits in overall connects four times (rounds five, seven, 10 and 11) and three times in power connects (five, 10 and 11). His 31.6 punches per round was 45 percent lower than the featherweight average of 57.2 and his 8.8 connects per round was less than half the 17.8 the typical 126-pounder lands. Caballero’s extreme height, reach and volume also took a great toll on Yordan’s jab as he failed to land a jab in rounds four through 10 and landed just two before the final bell.

The PunchZone profile showed that Caballero exacted his greatest damage to the left side of Yordan’s body, for his right hand struck there 90 times as opposed to 36 times with the left. The head connects were evenly distributed as Caballero’s left hit 60 times and his right 65 times while the chin was struck 74 times. As for Yordan, he reached Caballero’s head 85 times as the left hit 43 times, the right 28 times and the chin was targeted 14 times. Of Yordan’s 20 body connects, his left logged 12 connects while his right registered eight connects.

Following a shaky performance against Jeffrey Mathebula last April, the 33-year-old Caballero showed the extra four pounds did him a world of good in terms of energy and form. Whether that translates to success against the division’s elite remains unknown but one thing is guaranteed – it will be fun to watch him try.