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With His KO Victory Over
Quintana, Berto
May Have Jumped To # 1 In Pac Sweepstakes
By William Trillo
By his own admission he still was a bit rusty, nevertheless
WBC Welterweight Champion Andre Berto (25-0,19 KO’s) did
enough to not only defeat Carlos Quintana (27-2,21 KO’s) but
he did it with a very impressive 8th round flurry that left
Quintana dazed and confused. As Quintana tried to regroup in
the corner Berto launched a right hand that landed squarely
on Quintana’s face and that was all she wrote. Referee Tommy
Kimmons stopped the fight right then and there at the 2:16
mark.
Fighting with an early injury to his left bicep, not to
mention the thought of his Haitian country still suffering
from that life changing earthquake, Berto managed to shake
off some early round difficulties and find a way to overcome
a tough and crafty Puerto Rican former champ.
In his loss Quintana almost matched Berto in punchstats but
it was the speed of the punches that ended up taking it’s
toll on Quintana who made a pretty good go of the first
rounds but just didn’t have the hand speed or firepower to
keep up with a “not to be denied” Berto.
So where does the undefeated Welterweight go from here?
Who’s next?
Looking at the 147 pound landscape it’s not hard to put him
in the leader board of the coveted Manny Pacquiao
Sweepstakes. First off you have the Shane Mosley vs. Floyd
Mayweather fight. If Shane wins there is an immediate
rematch clause. Should Floyd win that would appear to open a
small crack in
the door for a Mayweather vs. Berto bout, but with both
fighters sharing the same management team, a team that does
not like to put it’s fighters against each other, it’s
hard to see that happening. Now Mayweather could face Manny,
but as long as that drug testing demand is on the plate
Manny surely won’t be in the ring with Floyd anytime soon.
In my book, that leaves Andre Berto right smack dab in the
middle of a possible big money fight against Pacquiao
because outside of Shane or Floyd there are no other
"qualified" high
dollar marquee type names at 147 pounds for Manny to fight.
In the semi-main featherweight Celestino Caballero (33-2, 23
KO’s) outclassed a tough Daud Cino Yordan (25-0,19 KO’s)
over 12 exhausting to watch rounds. If scores of 119-108
twice & 120-107 don’t tell you this was a yawner then you
will just have to trust me. Caballero used his length and
skill to keep Yordan doing nothing more than being used as a
human target. With the win Caballero nabs the interim WBA
World featherweight title.
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