The appetizer turned out to be
the main course at Caesar’s Palace Saturday night,
as unbeaten Welterweights, Joel Julio of Columbia
(27-1, 24 KO’s) and Carlos Quintana (23-0, 18
KO’s) of Puerto Rico battled it out in a 12 round,
WBA eliminator bout.
There was never a dull moment in this one as the
favorite, Julio, landed a big right hand in the
first round that staggered Quintana backwards, his
hand touching the canvas. It was ruled a
knockdown. Quintana was not to be discouraged
though and from round two on, Quintana showed his
quality, as he out boxed and out classed Julio
with superior overall boxing skills, winning a
Unanimous Decision by scores of 115-112, 117-111
and 118-110. I scored it 116-112 for Quintana.
With this victory, Quintana earned the right to
face the winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Oktay Urkal.
Hatton didn’t look so good against legitimate,
147-pounder, Luis Collazo, who I thought won the
fight but didn’t get the Decision for his display
of superior boxing skills that night. Hatton is
probably better suited to fight at 140 instead of
147. Quintana, who looks mighty comfortable at
147, is an excellent boxer-puncher and will be a
very tough proposition for either Urkal or Hatton.
Joel Julio may have lost this fight but I think he
has gained quality experience from it. You can’t
knock everyone out. Sometimes, you just got to win
rounds. This was a good loss and will make Julio a
better fighter. I wouldn’t write him off any time
soon. Carlos Quintana, the man from Moca, has a
good chin, good defense, nice footwork and a
killer instinct. I’m eager to see how both guys do
in the future.
* * *
The Main Event was a lack luster, twelve round
Heavyweight bout featuring North Carolina native,
Calvin Brock (29-0, 22 KO’s) taking on unbeaten
Eastern European Prospect, Timor Ibragimov
(21-1-1, 13 KO’s).
Brock was steady and plodding in his approach. He
scored the better punches, often with his right
hand and always took the initiative in the closing
moments of rounds. The absence of a consistent jab
made Calvin’s job harder and a lot less appealing
for the fans in attendance. Ibragimov had faster
hands but was too slow to unleash his offense,
focusing on defense and a lot of holding
throughout twelve rounds.
Timur has faced Calvin Brock in the past, as a
sparring partner. He looked like a sparring
partner Saturday night, doing just enough to
survive rounds and not leaving much to talk
about. The only exciting moments in this fight
were authored by Brock’s right hand. He rarely
used his jab. To Brock’s credit, he did work the
body when he did jab. It was a long fight, short
on being entertaining.
Brock won a Unanimous Decision by scores of
115-113, 117-111 and 119-109. I scored it 119-109
for Brock. Though Brock won the fight, he didn’t
seem to win any new fans as the crowd booed
repeatedly throughout the fight for lack of
excitement.
During the post fight interview, Brock was asked
about the boo’s from the crowd. Brock said he
doesn’t listen to that because when he’s in the
ring, he’s in his office, where he is in charge.
He credited Ibragimov for being a good fighter who
was also an unbeaten fighter. Until now.
Calvin Brock has some good qualities, solid power,
credible boxing skills and reliable stamina. My
main criticism is that he doesn’t use his jab
enough. When he did jab, he was effective at
setting up his combinations as well as being
better able to avoid the constant clinches of
Ibragimov.
There’s a difference between just winning fights
and being a Star in the fight game. If Brock wants
to sell tickets, he needs to be more than
methodical fighter that wins. He needs to be
explosive. Boxing is about entertainment and fans
want to see action, not just a boring display of
basic, slow paced boxing.
Calvin needs to pick up his pace, work his jab
more and demonstrate the power of his cannons. His
balance is odd for a man that Tap dances. He would
be more exciting to watch if he added some fluid
movement to his footwork. Styles do make fights
though, and Ibragimov’s constant clinching was
hard to look good against. Still a work in
progress, Calvin Brock looked a bit stiff Saturday
night, though he managed to easily put another W
in the bank.
* * *
Comments can be emailed to dshark87@hotmail.com
6-24-2006
