Berto v. Quintana; round-by-round

Well I'm finishing watching the lead-in HBO fight between featherweights Caballero and Sompun Chingbagh. To noone's surprise Sompun Chingbagh absorbed punishment all night long and Caballero took a unanimous landslide decision.

The big fight of the night is Andre Berto v. Carlos Quintana. Will this be the Quintana that beat Paul Williams by fighting perfectly or the version that got KO'd by Williams in the rematch? Will the undefeated Berto be the one who struggled with the flat footed Juan Urango? Will Berto still be affected by the Haiti earthquake that prompted his pullout from his then-cancelled fight with Shane Mosley? Interesting questions for realfightfans. Who do I like? I'd think Berto's quickness gives him an edge, but it's easy to underestimate Quintana. A slick southpaw who can really box, he was able to decisively beat the then-undefeated and seemingly still nearly unbeatable Paul Williams. Quintana also handed Joel Julio his first loss and though Julio precitously fell off our collective radar later, he was a force to be reckoned with as he's apparently still trying to claw his way back to relevance.

Interesting to see HBO pointing out Berto's career long 314 day layoff for Berto. I think we're going to see ring rust and Berto maybe thrown off by Quintana's ability to slip, duck and counter. Berto is used to being able to admire his work and have a major talent advantage and is likely to be really tested for the first time in his career. I think he'll come up short. I call Quintana by decision, maybe even a split decision...but the WBC welterweight championship changes hands tonight.

Now let's see what the fight holds:

Round one - Berto clearly quicker and lands the first significant punch cleanly. Quintana rabbit punching. Now Lampley reminds us that Quintana was KO'd by Williams in the rematch in one round and retired by Cotto after five rounds. Berto complaining while caught up, but Quintana fighting on and taking advantage by punching inside. Now Berto is roughhousing, then complaining about being rabbit punched...when this time it didn't happen! Berto's round 10-9

Round two - Quintana starts by twitching a jab out and Quintana times Berto and hits him hard and clean. Berto then steps inside and gets rough, stepping in and waving his head around. Berto steps inside and holds and gets hit in the face and seems to want to complain that it's somehow unfair that he's getting hit. Quintana bothering Berto by flicking that jab. Quintana just out of reach of hitting Quintana. Quintana's round, evening it at 19-19.

Round three - Quintana is warned for hitting behind the head, but I don't really see it. Berto's complaints shouldn't result in a special look. Berto looking to the ref. Quintana gets warned again and I can't tell for what, considering that Berto is the one leaning in, jumping in and butting. Quintana on the defensive, but Berto getting hit. A point deduction from Quintana for hitting Berto behind the head and because Berto turned out of a clinch and turned his back and got hit in the back of the head, it looked far more obvious than it was. 10-8 for Berto, making it 29-27 for Berto.

Round four - rough fight, as the HBO crew attests. Merchant correctly points out that Berto is "turning away" coming out of clinches, making Quintana have to throw at the back of his head, as it happens again, but no point taken this time or warning given. Still, Berto is getting the better of it. Quintana is not sharp because he's not getting off first. Berto's round again as the aggressor, making it 39-36 for Berto.

Round five - Nice uppercut by Quintana and they are fighting rough, holding, pushing and leaning on each other while throwing. Another nice uppercut by Quintana followed by a clean right by Berto. I wonder how much Berto has left, but Quintana is wobbled when both land cleanly. I disagree with Jim Lampley that it was quite a "big round" for Berto, but by wobbling Quintana he took the round, even though much of it was very even or skewed to Quintana. It goes to 49-45 for Berto.

Round six - ugly round and it's Berto's fault as much or more than Quintana. Neither fighter deserves the round with 30 seconds left. Merchant says he thinks its a "pretty good round" for Quintana and I'll agree, making it 58-55, still for Berto. And there's a left bicep injury to Berto evidently.

Round seven - Quintana going under the left arm of Quintana. Lampley enthusiastically declaring Berto's shots hard and clean and Merchant disagreeing. Merchants' right, but just then Berto DOES land a hard right cleanly. A close round, but I've got to give it to Berto, making it 68-64 for Berto.

Round eight - Berto better in the first minute and now Quintana complains and I don' t see why? getting hit cleanly? They fight the first half of this round separated and it favors Berto. Good thing Lampley is not reffing because he says it's a good time to stop the fight, but that's excessive. Shockingly! the ref stops it?!? okay so Quintana took a shot straight down the middle, but for me it was not a good stoppage. I think that Quintana could continue. In replays though, it actually looked worse than I thought it was in real time. Quintana WAS totally defensive and there was nearly a full minute left. Good stoppage.

So does this make Berto a legitimate threat in the welterweight division? I'm not convinced. He's fast-handed, but his style is ugly and he's hittable as heck. Quintana has no power and Berto actually can be dropped. Against any of the three best in the division, he gets picked apart, shocked and dropped repeatedly. Berto is too inaccurate, but he IS still undefeated and didn't show any sign of tiring, though it didn't really go that deep. I was wrong about the outcome. Quintana isn't fast enough handed and the speed differential was too much for him. He seems to be on the downside of his career now, so he may turn into a gatekeeper...which I suppose is what he was today.