By Eric Thomas: In an impressive display of pure power-punching, former WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) regained his title with a crushing 1st round TKO of champion Carlos Quintana (25-2, 19 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. Williams, 26, stunned Quintana with a big left hand and then dropped him with a short left hand to the side of the head. Quintana got up, badly hurt, and was met with an avalanche of punches from Williams, which sent Quintana down for the second and final time in the round. In the process of falling down, Quintana tackled Williams around the legs causing both fighters to go down. The referee Eddie Claudio, however, has seen enough from Quintana and immediately stopped the bout at 2:15 of the 1st round.
Upon entering the ring in the 1st round, it was startling how much bigger Williams looked than last time they fought four months ago. Williams appeared much more muscular in the upper body, though his legs looked as skinny as before. At the start of the 1st round, Williams began jabbing frequently from the distance, hitting the shorter Quintana again and again with long jabs. This, too, was something different, because Williams had rarely used his jab in their first fight in February. Quintana, 31, fought pretty much like last time, landing fast counter left hands to the head of Williams whenever he got within punching range.
However, after Quintana landed a particularly hard left hand, Williams responded with powerful straight left of his own that hurt Quintana, making him grab a hold of Williams to try and buy some time. Williams fought out of the clinch and responded with a flurry of short combinations to the head of Quintana, catching him twice with two powerful left hands. The second left hand staggered Quintana sending him down to the canvas. After getting up, Quintana was met with another huge left hand from Williams which staggered Quintana further, sending him fleeing backwards across the ring to the far corner.
Williams went after him and landed five brutal left hands, the last one a particularly hard chopping left hand that caused Quintana to fall forward and attempt to grab Williams around the ring while falling. At this, Quintana succeeded, and caused both him and Williams to fall to the canvas. The referee, though, stepped in at this point and put a stop to the bout at 2:15 with both fighters on the canvas.
It seemed like a premature stoppage to me, because Quintana should have at least been allowed to get up and attempt to make it out of the round. Who knows? He might have been able to clinch his way out of it if given the chance by the referee. Whatever the case, Williams got the win, and in the process he regained his title and avenged his only defeat of his career. In an interview after with Jim Gray from Showtime, Williams said “I want to fight Cotto, Margarito or De La Hoya, since Mayweather retired.”
Quintana seemed to make a big mistake in the 1st round when he attempted to fight Williams in close range after getting hurt. It seemed as if Quintana thought that by staying in close, he might be able to nullify some of Williams’ power, because he would be smothering his shots. However, Williams proved to be an excellent fighter at close range, throwing short uppercuts and hooks to hurt the shorter, weaker Quintana. In the end, Quintana didn’t have the size or the strength to deal with the new and improved Williams. Believe me, Williams looked like a completely different fighter than last time out, much more powerful and a whole lot more aggressive.