Paul Williams-Carlos Quintana

Alright fight friends we have a great welterweight double header this weekend on HBO. Paul Williams, WBO Welterweight Champion, will take on Carlos Quintana. This is Williams's first defense of his WBO belt after beating Antonio Margarito for the belt in July. Williams 33(24)-0, who is considered to be a freak of nature, stands at 6'1 weighing in at 147 with an 82" reach not to mention he is a southpaw. Williams throws lots of punches but not all of his punches are meaningful punches and in my opinion just create activity instead of true effectiveness. I see many holes in his fight style but many mistakes he gets away with because of his height and reach. Mistakes such as admiring his punches and keeping his hands low, if he was around 5'9 he would pay for those mistakes more often. I do worry about his stamina because he faded in his fight against Margarito so it could be a problem later against better opposition. Quintana 24(19)-1(1) is a tough boxer who has only lost to Miguel Cotto in his first title fight for the vacant WBA Welterweight Championship. Quintana is also a southpaw but is only 5'9-5'10 with a 72" reach and clearly is the underdog based on physical advantages. As Cotto proved, Quintana can be broken down with decent bodywork if Williams takes advantage of it. Quintana has a decent punch but I do worry about the reach disadvantage he faces if that will stop him from getting in close with Williams. I guess Saturday we will see.

Andre Berto 20(17)-0 has a fight against what is believe to be his toughest competition yet in Michel Trabant 43(19)-2-1. I have to admit I have never heard of or seen Trabant in action but I hear he is a tough fighter. Berto is a tough fighter as well with a huge punch but has a lack in his defense game. He tends to leave his hands down and get caught a lot. If he does not correct that issue in his game he will get hit more and more as his opposition improves and may end up getting KOd. However I have to admit I don't see that happening in this fight. Not to downplay Trabant but I think HBO played it somewhat safe for Berto to improve his opposition but make him the winner. With only 19KOs in 43 wins it is safe to say Trabant is not a KO artist.