Quintana
entered the ring confident. In his last encounter, in May of this year,
the 36-year-old veteran stopped Deandre Latimore in six heats at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Quintana had been thought of as nothing
more than a stepping stone for Latimore. Instead, the wily old pro
dismantled Latimore and stopped him.
He probably figured he'd do the same thing to the 24-year-old Thurman.
He figured wrong.
Thurman
hits hard. Quintana found that out in the very first round. A
southpaw's style (Quintana) can sometimes be a problem for a young
boxer. Thurman had been fortunate to spar with Ronald "Winky" Wright
during various stages of his career. Wright gave him a crash course on
handling southpaws.
Apparently, Thurman passed with flying colors.
At
the bell to begin the contest, Quintana moved and jabbed. Thurman
landed a heavy left hook to the body and right hand to the head of
Quintana. Later in the round Thurman connected with the left to the
liver of Quintana. The former WBO welterweight champion, who holds a win
over former champion Paul Williams, went down to his knees.
Quintana
hauled himself up at the count of nine. He used his bicycle to avoid
most of Thurman's heavy punches. Thurman continued to do well in round
two. His body attack was consistent. A hard left to the side of Quintana
body hurt him again. The veteran from Puerto Rico needed to do
something to get the respect of his much younger opponent. He tried
working the jab, but couldn't land anything substantial. Thurman
stalked in round three and looked for an opening. His power had Quintana
constantly on the defensive.
A
big right staggered Quintana. Thurman isn't the quickest boxer on the
planet, but he makes up for it with raw strength. He wobbled Quintana
with a combination of punches to the head and body. Thurman followed his
stricken opponent and strafed him with more wicked punches. When
another right hand staggered Quintana, referee Jack Reiss jumped in and
stopped the fight.
“I’m calling out the entire world of boxing,” said Thurman in the ring immediately after the fight had concluded.
The bout was part of HBO'S Championship Boxing Series.